
Class 



F I 4- 



Book_J^L 






a 
? 

HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 



DELIVERED BY REQUEST 



BEFORE THE 



CITIZENS OF NEW HAVEN, 

APRIL 25, 1838, 

THE TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 

OF 

THE FIRST SETTLEMENT 



TOWN AND COLONY. 



BY JAMES L. KINGSLEY. 






NEW HAVEN: 
B. & W. NOYES. 

1838. 





Printed by B. I.. Haml< a 



The author was invited, March 20th, 1S38, by a joint 
committee of the Connecticut Academy, of the Mayor and 
Aldermen of the City, and of the Selectmen of the Town, of 
New Haven, to prepare a discourse for the Second Centen- 
nial Anniversary of the founding of the Colony. He subse- 
quently received the following communication. 

Professor James L. Kingsley, 

gir — The Committees appointed to conduct the Cele- 
bration of the Second Centennial Anniversary of the settle- 
ment of the Colony of New Haven, respectfully request that 
you will furnish them for publication, a copy of the very 
able Historical Discourse, which on that occasion you ad- 
dressed to one of the most numerous and enlightened assem- 
blies, ever convened in this city. 
With the highest regard, 

Your friends and fellow citizens, 



Benjamin Silliman, 
Thomas Hubbard, 
Jonathan Knight, 
Leonard Bacon, 
Theodore D. Woolsey, 
Edward C. Herrick, 

Henry C. Flagg, 
Benjamin Beecher, 
Caleb Brintnall, 
John B. Robertson, 
Solomon Collis, 

Levi Gilbert, 2d. 
Marcus Merriman, Junr. 
New Haven, Thursday, April 26, 1833. 



Committee of the 
Connecticut Acade- 
my of Arts and 
Sciences. 



Committee of the 
Mayor, Aldermen 
and Common Coun- 
cil of the City. 

Committee of the Se- 
lectmen of the Town. 



ERRATA. 

Page 16, line 8, for June 3, read June 26. 
" 89, " 18, " January, 1647, read January, 1646. 
" 92, " 9, " Hodgson, read Hodshon. 



03 d Some passages of the following Discourse, 
to avoid trespassing too much on the patience of 
the audience, were omitted in the delivery. 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 



We are assembled, fellow citizens, to commemo- 
rate the close of the second century from the first 
planting of the town and colony of New Haven. 
This act of respect and pious gratitude to the foun- 
ders of our city, we have been led to perform, less, 
it is believed, by the influence of custom, than by 
a strong conviction of the importance of the event 
which we celebrate, and a wish to impress on our 
own minds, and on the minds of those who shall 
come after us, the great truths which it is so well 
fitted to teach. 

Hardly any feeling arises more spontaneously in 
the human breast, than that which prompts us to 
recur to times which are past, to review the events 
of former years, and especially to inquire into the 
characters and fortunes of those, whose actions in 
the order of providence have a near connection 
with our own allotment. It affords us a melan- 
choly pleasure, unless a false philosophy has dead- 
ened our sensibilities, to visit the places of the bu- 
rial of such men, to inspect their monuments, to 
traverse the ground which has been the scene of 
their exploits, and to mark by some appropriate ob- 
servances, the times, which in their progress through 
life, have been especially signalized by disaster or 
success. Nor are such reminiscences without their 



use. They bring to our view, more distinctly and 
with deeper conviction, the influence of man upon 
man, the connection of one generation and of one 
age with those which follow; enlarge our know- 
ledge of the human character and of human inter- 
ests, and at the same time quicken the most gen- 
erous feelings of the heart. Our duties are made 
more clear, and our resolution to perform them 
strengthened and confirmed. 

To indulge in reflections on the past, we are this 
day invited by numerous circumstances of deep and 
affecting interest. We are entering on the third 
century from the time, when civilization and Chris- 
tianity were first introduced into this part of New 
England. It is the same season of the year, the 
sun is moving in the same circle of the heavens, as 
on that day, when the original settlers of this town, 
first assembled after their arrival, to offer up, in the 
open air, their prayers and praises to that Being, 
who had conducted them in safety to this spot, and 
on whose almighty aid they relied for continued 
support. We now behold around us the same hills, 
the same plains, the same waters in the distance, as 
then greeted their eyes ; and we see, what they were 
able to discern only in the dim future, and in the vis- 
ions of hope, a cultivated region and a populous city, 
enjoying the advantages of literature and religion, 
and enlivened by the pursuits of agriculture, com- 
merce and the arts. Let us, then, yielding to the 
dictates of our understandings, as well as of our 
feelings, briefly review the early history of New 
Haven; without stopping to apologize to those, 
who would deride the observance of such an anni- 



versary as mere idle parade, or the lingering of pu- 
ritanical prejudice. 

The great cause, which led to the first coloni- 
zation of New England, is well known to you all. 
But though the subject is trite, a reference to a few 
facts seems necessary, fully to illustrate the main 
topic now to be considered. The separation of the 
English church from the church of Rome was at 
first rather political than religious ; it was rather 
resistance on the part of Henry VIII. to the power 
and authority of the pope, than a change in doc- 
trines, or in the general rules of ecclesiastical dis- 
cipline. That the rise of Protestantism should be 
gradual, was a matter of course. Individuals, much 
more large bodies of men, seldom renounce old opin- 
ions suddenly ; especially opinions so fondly cher- 
ished and so strongly fortified by early associations, 
the influence of authority, and the powerful feelings 
of hope and fear, as those of religion. The right 
and obligation of the monarch to enforce uniformity 
in religious belief and worship, was at the begin- 
ning of the reformation, hardly questioned by any 
one ; the only debate was, whether in particular 
cases he had determined correctly. His authority, 
therefore, was opposed by men, who, if they could 
have attained their object, would have persuaded 
him, not to give up the power of legislating in mat- 
ters of religion, but so to exercise it as to support 
opinions, which they themselves had adopted. 

At first the number of individuals who withstood 
the will of the sovereign, however capricious, was in- 
considerable. The belief in the infallibility of those, 
who controlled the civil and ecclesiastical affairs 



8 

of the nation, and the dread of pains and penalties, 
seem for a time to have entirely subdued in the hu- 
man mind all independent thought. But in a pe- 
riod of so much mental agitation, as that from the 
commencement of the reformation in the reign of 
Henry VIII. to the time of James I., it was impos- 
sible that this intellectual slavery should remain 
undisturbed. To believe, according to act of par- 
liament, a doctrine to be at one time essential truth, 
at another the most fatal heresy, and at another a 
matter of indifference, at length exceeded the pow- 
ers of a few ; and the spell being once broken, diver- 
sity of religious faith was increased and strength- 
ened. The art of printing had made books more 
accessible, the clergy as a body were more learned, 
men's minds were sharpened by controversy, and 
no human power could stop the progress of dis- 
sent. The puritans, as they were called, wished for 
greater changes in the church, especially in its dis- 
cipline, than met the views of their civil and eccle- 
siastical superiors; and in consequence they were 
exposed to severe sufferings. 

To these men of ardent minds and tender con- 
sciences, and goaded on by intolerance in some 
instances without doubt to extremes, submission to 
government against their own belief and sense of 
duty, appeared to be the greatest of crimes. With 
their convictions, they could neither comply with 
the ceremonies of the church as by law established, 
nor cease to worship after their own manner. But 
in neither of these respects could they find indul- 
gence. The struggle which in consequence they 
endeavored to maintain with the power of the state 



9 

was unequal ; and they soon began to look about 
them for the means of relief. To quit their coun- 
try was a severe sacrifice ; but this they were ready 
to make, if necessary to the free exercise of their 
religion. 

Many of these oppressed individuals fled to the 
continent ; in some parts of which, greater freedom 
of opinion was allowed than in England. But here 
they were under many severe restraints; and the 
great object for which they left their homes, the 
free exercise of religion, with the prospect of trans- 
mitting their own views of faith and manners to 
their posterity, was in danger of being defeated. 
As a last resource, they resolved to take refuge on 
the shores of North America. The boldness of 
this determination will not be sufficiently manifest, 
without looking at some of the circumstances in 
which it was formed. At the time, when the first 
company of puritans sailed from Europe for Amer- 
ica, very little was known of that part of the conti- 
nent, which was called New England. A few mar- 
iners had descried here and there a bay and a prom- 
ontory, and had landed at some points on the coast ; 
but they had furnished very slight information, 
where the shores could be with safety approached, 
or where were the most favorable places for estab- 
lishing a colony. As to the nature of the soil and 
its productions, the number and character of the 
native inhabitants, their means of annoyance, and 
the best mode of conciliating their favor; and as to 
the climate, the possibility of obtaining a livelihood 
by agriculture or commerce, and the most favora- 
ble season for beginning a colonial establishment, 

2 



10 

there was no distinct and credible account. That 
there was here a wide country, unoccupied, except 
by savages, is all that was certain. But what was 
still more discouraging than venturing to cast their 
lot in an unexplored region, was the utter uncer- 
tainty, whether the same oppressive bigotry, which 
had driven them from their homes, would not pur- 
sue them in their distant retreat. 

Such were some of the difficulties and discour- 
agements attending the planting of the first colony 
at Plymouth, in December, 1620. The news like- 
wise, which the earliest pilgrims to America sent 
to their brethren whom they had left behind, must 
have been peculiarly afflictive and disheartening. 
It was a story of suffering and loss, of a severe cli- 
mate, of an unpromising soil, of a savage popula- 
tion, of sickness and of death. Still there were 
found those, who were willing to join this uninviting 
settlement; and its numbers gradually increased. 
As information respecting this new country was 
more widely diffused, multitudes were found willing 
to forego their enjoyments in England, connected 
as they were with religious intolerance; and to 
transport themselves into a wilderness with its ac- 
companying privations and sufferings, as some pros- 
pect was here held out to them of instituting com- 
munities, in conformity with their own notions of 
civil and religious polity. Accordingly projects of 
more extensive establishments on the American 
coast, were soon favored by persons of higher rank, 
and larger fortunes. An expedition originating in 
this way, sailed from England in 1028, and com- 
menced the town of Salem in Massachusetts. An- 



11 

other expedition still larger, in the year 1630, 
landed at Charlestown, and began the settlement 
of Boston. 

Encouraged by the partial success of these early 
adventurers, a new company for emigration was 
formed in England in the year 1636, chiefly through 
the efforts of Theophilus Eaton, John Davenport 
and Edward Hopkins. The first of this number, 
Theophilus Eaton, was born about the year 1590, 
in Stony-Stratford in Oxfordshire ; where, says 
Mather,* his father was a " faithful and famous 
minister." He received his education in Coven- 
try, to which place his father had removed. At 
school, he formed an intimate acquaintance with 
John Davenport, a son of the mayor of the city, 
and with whom he was afterwards connected in 
leading a colony to America. The parents of Ea- 
ton were desirous, that he should follow the profes- 
sion of his father; but his own inclinations led him 
to engage in commerce. Accordingly he was made 
a "freeman of London," entered into what was 
called the " east-country trade,"t that is, with na- 
tions on the shores of the Baltic, was chosen dep- 
uty-governor of the company of merchants, to which 
he belonged, and prosecuted his business with great 
success and reputation. In the course of his com- 
mercial transactions, he visited the northern coun- 
tries of Europe, was the agent of the king of Eng- 
land at the court of Denmark; and the concerns of 
the company were so prosperous under his manage- 
ment, that he received from his associates clistin- 

1 Masnal. Book II. 26. < Note A. 



12 

guished marks of their approbation. " He arrived," 
says Mather, " unto a fair estate," was connected 
by a second marriage with a daughter of the bishop 
of Chester, and " spent many years," according to 
the same author, "a merchant of great credit and 
fashion in the city of London." In religion he was 
a zealous and active puritan. That he took an 
early interest in the emigrations to America, ap- 
pears from the fact, that he was one of the paten- 
tees of Massachusetts; though probably, at first, he 
had himself no intention of leaving his country. 

John Davenport was born in the year 1597, and 
was educated at the university of Oxford ; where 
he received the degrees of Master of Arts, and 
Bachelor of Divinity. He took orders in the church 
at the age of nineteen, and was a minister of the 
establishment, in St. Stephen's Church, Colman 
street, London. His early friend Eaton was one 
of his parishioners. How soon he began to favor 
the doctrines of the puritans cannot now be as- 
certained; but in 1626, he with others, was con- 
cerned in purchasing lay impropriations in the 
church, which proceeding was pronounced, in the 
Exchequer chamber, through the agency of Laud, 
illegal, and the property thus acquired was confis- 
cated to the use of the king. Mr. Davenport con- 
tributed his aid towards procuring the patent of 
Massachusetts; though from the fear of creating 
opposition, he did not allow his name to appear 
among the patentees. " Yet his purse," says Ma- 
ther,* " was in it, his time was in it, and he con- 



" Miignal. Book III. 53. 



13 

tributed unto it all manner of assistances." Before 
this he had been induced to inquire into the rea- 
sons, why a man of the eminence of John Cotton 
should deliberate on leaving his country ; and in this 
way probably became acquainted with the plans, 
which were in progress for colonizing New Eng- 
land. By such a course of conduct, Mr. Daven- 
port could not fail to come under the censure of his 
diocesan ; and to avoid the penalties, to which he 
might be subjected, he assembled the principal 
members of his parish, and obtained their consent, 
that he should retire to Holland. After a residence 
in that country of about three years, he returned to 
London to unite with his early friend Eaton in re- 
moving to America. 

Edward Hopkins, the remaining individual of 
those just mentioned, as taking a principal part in 
preparing for this new expedition, was a native of 
Shrewsbury, and born about the year 1600. He 
was step-son to Mr. Eaton, like him had acquired 
wealth by commerce, and was not less deeply im- 
bued with the principles and feelings of the puri- 
tans. By the efforts chiefly of these three men, a 
company was formed of persons of standing and 
property, who for the sake of religious liberty, were 
willing to forego their ease and affluence, and en- 
counter the hardships and dangers of the wilderness. 

Let us here stop, and look for a moment at the 
nature of the enterprise, in which this company 
was about to engage. The knowledge of the coast 
of New England had been somewhat extended, 
since the first settlements were begun ; but it was 
still too imperfect to guide to any important prac- 



14 

tical determinations. The colonies of Plymouth, 
of Salem and of Boston, had suffered greatly by 
sickness ; the prospect of a profitable commerce, or 
even of obtaining a comfortable subsistence, was 
distant and faint; and the danger from the native 
inhabitants was neither unreal, nor considered of 
little importance. These obstacles, however, had 
in part lain in the way of the previous adventurers. 
But another of a different character had arisen, 
which gave to the enterprise now contemplated the 
aspect of peculiar hazard ; and which would have 
deterred men of less determined minds from taking 
any part in it ; even if all discouragements before 
existing could have been removed. 

The early colonists had hoped to retire beyond 
the reach, or to escape the notice, of their oppres- 
sors; but this expectation, faint at first, seemed 
now to have vanished. In April, of the year 1634, 
less than four years after the settlement of Boston, 
the king, Charles I, by a " commission for regula- 
ting plantations," gave archbishop Laud and oth- 
ers, what is denominated, " power of protection and 
government" over the " English colonies already 
planted," as well as over such as should be planted 
afterwards ; and authorized them, for the " ease and 
tranquillity" of the colonists, "to make laws, ordi- 
nances and constitutions, concerning either the 
state public of the said colonies, or utility of pri- 
vate persons, and their lands, goods, debts, and suc- 
cession ;" and " for relief and support of the clergy, 
and the rule and cure of the souls of our people liv- 
ing in those parts, and for consigning of convenient 
maintenance unto them by tythes, oblations, and 



15 

other profits accruing, according to your good dis- 
cretion, with the advice of two or three of our bish- 
ops, whom you shall think fit to call unto your con- 
sultations, touching the distributions of such main- 
tenance unto the clergy, and all other matters eccle- 
siastical ; and to inflict punishment upon all offen- 
ders or violators of the constitutions and ordinances, 
either by imprisonment or other restraint, or by loss 
of life or member, according as the quality of the 
offense shall require."* The prospect, therefore 
was, that if they should establish themselves on the 
remote shores of America at whatever hazard and 
sacrifice, they would be invaded in their retreat, 
by the very power, from which they had endeavored 
to escape; and particularly, that they would be 
brought under the same religious restraints, as 
they had before suffered, or even those of still 
greater rigor. They had full knowledge of the 
disposition of archbishop Laud towards dissenters 
from the established religion; nor could they doubt 
what was to be expected from commissioners of 
whom he was the head, armed with power to inflict 
on non-conformists in the colonies " loss of life or 
member," according to their discretion. 

Yet notwithstanding this additional cause of ap- 
prehension, a large company, under the direction 
of the men just mentioned, associated for removal 
to New England. These new adventurers were 
chiefly Londoners ; men for the most part, whose 
business had been commerce, and who hoped to 
establish themselves in the same employment in 

* 1 Hazard, 344. Hubbard, 264. 



16 

America. They appear to have determined, be- 
fore leaving England, on no particular place for 
settlement; but sailed for Massachusetts, reserving 
the selection of a place of abode, till after their ar- 
rival. The company embarked in two ships, taking 
with them a large amount of property, and a num- 
ber of persons in the capacity of servants ; and 
arrived at the place of their destination, June 3d, 
1637. They were very favorably received by their 
brethren, who had gone to America before them. 
Inducements were held out to the company to fix 
their residence in Boston; and likewise, to unite 
with the original colony at Plymouth; but they 
most probably entertained from the first, a wish to 
begin, if possible, a new settlement. Perhaps they 
were not altogether pleased with the state of things 
in either of the colonies already planted ; and it is 
certain, that such accommodations as they looked 
for, in prosecuting their plans of trade, could not 
be easily found. They early wrote to their friends 
in Hartford, to purchase of the natives an exten- 
sive tract of country, between the rivers Connec- 
ticut and Hudson ; but I find no evidence, that any 
purchase of this kind was completed. After visit- 
ing various places on the coast, in the neighbor- 
hood of Boston and Plymouth, Mr. Eaton, in Au- 
gust after his arrival, in company with several oth- 
ers, made a journey to the westward, for the pur- 
pose of exploring the country between Connecticut 
river and the Manhadoes, now New York. In his 
tour, he came to this place, then known by the 
name of Q,uinnipiac; and was so favorably impres- 
sed by its appearance, especially as a site for a 



17 

commercial town, that he seems to have soon de- 
termined on establishing here a new and distinct 
colony. Accordingly he left a few men on this spot 
for the winter, probably to make preparation for re- 
ceiving the whole company, the following spring. 

On the 30th of March, 1638, Mr. Eaton, and 
Mr. Davenport, with their associates, sailed from 
Boston for Quinnipiac, and in about a fortnight 
arrived here in safety. Of the particulars of this 
voyage no memorial remains. The length of time 
which it occupied, is easily accounted for, from the 
necessity of caution in sailing on a coast, which 
had been so little explored. The first sabbath after 
their landing, which on highly probable grounds, 
is supposed to have been the fifteenth of April,* old 
style, corresponding, according to our present mode 
of reckoning time, to the twenty fifth of the same 
month, was celebrated under a large oak, near 
where College and George streets now intersect 
each other ; and here this assembly of exiles, about 
to establish themselves in what they considered 
and called the " ends of the earth," was addressed 
by their pastor on the " temptations of the wilder- 
ness." At the present time, familiar as we are 
with the scenes which surround us, it is difficult, 
perhaps impossible, to enter fully into the circum- 
stances of this little band; and to sympathize with 
them in their joys and sorrows, their hopes and 
fears. Imagine yourselves transported to some dis- 
tant region on the North-West coast of this conti- 
nent, or on the shores of New Holland, ignorant in 

* Note B. 



18 

a great degree of the country, surrounded by sav- 
ages of doubtful friendship, with no sure prospect of 
long obtaining the means of support, and the gov- 
ernment of your native country apparently resolved 
on defeating the very object, for which, with so 
many sacrifices, you had abandoned your homes ; 
what, in such a case, would be your anxieties, your 
apprehensions, and your efforts ? Or, to take an- 
other view of this subject,— what would induce you 
to enter on so bold and so desperate an adventure ? 
Would any prospect of gain, or of reputation ? 
Nothing within the range of probability would draw 
you to encounter such peril as is here presented, ex- 
cept that ardent religious zeal which actuated and 
supported the early colonists of New England. 

The first subject which engaged the attention of 
these exiles on their arrival, was the instituting of 
a government to regulate their concerns. The col- 
ony at Plymouth, in organizing their civil state, ac- 
knowledged themselves the subjects of king James. 
The government of Massachusetts acted under the 
authority of a royal charter. The first emigrants 
to Connecticut considered themselves under the 
jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; till after the settle- 
ment of three towns, they formed themselves into 
an independent body politic. The first planters of 
New Haven, recognized in their acts no human 
authority foreign to themselves. They appear to 
have studiously avoided any mention of their native 
country ; or any allusion to the question of allegi- 
ance to the king of England. This matter they 
left to be determined afterwards as circumstances 
should render a decision expedient or necessary. 



19 

As they were beyond the limits of the Massachu- 
setts patent, no reason existed for placing them- 
selves under the jurisdiction of that colony. They 
were, therefore, according to their own view, in 
many important respects, in what philosophers have 
called a state of nature, independent individuals, 
subject to no authority, but such as they should 
create by voluntary compact. Accordingly, soon 
after their arrival at Quinnipiac, at the close of a 
" day of fasting and prayer," they formed and sub- 
scribed what they denominated a " plantation cove- 
nant." By this instrument they engaged, " that as 
in matters that concern the gathering and ordering 
of a church, so also in all public offices, which con- 
cern civil order, as choice of magistrates, and offi- 
cers, making and repealing laws, dividing allotments 
of inheritance, and all things of like nature, they 
would all of them be ordered by the rules, which 
the scripture held forth to them."* This may be 
considered the original civil constitution of the New 
Haven colony. It was brief but comprehensive, 
embracing what the state of the colonists imme- 
diately required ; and in its terms and provisions 
must have been well understood, by each individual 
concerned in its formation. 

Here we cannot but remark the entirely prac- 
tical character, which the whole of this transaction 
wears. No attempt is here made to frame specific 
regulations to meet the circumstances of a com- 
munity so new, and the exigencies of which they 
were so little able to foresee ; nor is there for their 

* Col. Records. 



20 



general direction in deciding such controversies as 
might arise, reference to a code of laws of which 
they were ignorant, or with which they were im- 
perfectly acquainted. It was the intention of the 
leaders of the colony, without doubt from the first, 
to make the bible the ground-work of their legisla- 
tion; but in the temper and feeling with which 
these emigrants had left their native country, they 
might also have apprehended, that any recognition 
of the laws of England, however qualified, would 
lead to the introduction of English supremacy, and 
their own ultimate subjection to the very tyranny 
from which they had fled. To the scriptures, as a 
general guide in the administration of justice, there 
could be, in their minds, no such objection. . No 
one would fear danger under a polity where every 
controversy was to be determined by rules easily 
accessible ; and which all believed themselves able 
to comprehend and apply. The government thus 
instituted, was, in fact, a pure democracy, profes- 
sedly controlled by the great principles of justice 
and equity; as these principles are illustrated in 
the book of revelation. The ready adoption, there- 
fore, of such a plan of government as this, by an 
assemblage of individuals, with the opinions, and 
in the situation of the first New Haven colonists, 
was a matter of course. 

What magistrates were appointed under this 
early regimen, we have no means of determining. 
Any civil organization at this period must have 
been of the most primitive kind; and all questions 
of importance were probably settled in a general 
meeting of the planters. The first great measure 



21 

for consideration must have been the acquisition of 
a proper title to the land which they wished to oc- 
cupy. The actual possessors of the soil, though 
holding it only as a place of occasional hunting and 
fishing, they considered its rightful owners ; and of 
these they made a fair purchase of as much land as 
they needed at the outset. In November, after the 
arrival of the colony, the chiefs of the native tribe 
dwelling on this ground, conveyed to Theophilus 
Eaton, John Davenport and others, their heirs and 
assigns forever, the plain west of the river Q,uin- 
nipiac. For this the colonists gave what both par- 
ties undoubtedly considered a fair equivalent, in 
clothing, and in agricultural and domestic utensils; 
the Indians stipulating for the privilege of retiring 
within the English lines, if attacked by their ene- 
mies, and retaining the right of hunting and fishing 
as before. No calculation which either party could 
make at the time, would put upon the land a higher 
value, than the actual estimate. It is as much as 
we should be willing to give for an equal territory, 
perhaps it is even more, if we were now in like cir- 
cumstances on the shores of New Zealand. Simi- 
lar purchases were subsequently made, and there 
is abundant record evidence, that all the lands of 
the colony were purchased on just and equitable 
conditions ; and it does not appear, that any impor- 
tant controversy with the Indians, on this subject, 
ever existed. We must come to later times, and 
extend our inquiries to other parts of the country, 
if we would find instances of overreaching and 
fraud, in transactions for lands with the native in- 
habitants. It deserves also to be here distinctly 



22 

stated, that though there may have been some 
slight disagreements between the new settlers and 
the original occupants of the soil, and the latter 
may have in a few instances manifested a hostile 
disposition, yet there never was an open war be- 
tween the native Indians and the English in the 
New Haven colony ; which fact Hubbard ascribes 
to a " due carefulness," on the part of the colonists, 
" in doing justice to them upon all occasions."* 
The treatment of the savages of Pennsylvania by 
William Penn, was not a whit more equitable or 
kind, than that showed the native inhabitants of 
this spot. The distinguishing policy of Penn, in 
his intercourse with the Indians, consisted in this, 
that he allowed no lands to be purchased of them, 
except on account of the government; the very 
course pursued here.t 

The laying out of the town, and preparing means 
of defense against any attack from the savages, 
must have early commanded the attention of the 
colonists. As to the plan which was adopted for 
streets, for a public square, convenient access to 
the harbor, and communication with the surround- 
ing country, the sound judgment exercised is every 
where visible ; nor, do I suppose, that any import- 
ant change, in these respects, would be made, if 
after the experience of two centuries, we could di- 
rect what the original design should have been.J As 
to defense against the native tribes, if they should 
prove hostile; some protection, for checking any 
sudden aggression on their part, and giving confi- 

' 322. I Note C. i Note D. 



23 

dence to the new settlers, was indispensable. It 
does not appear, that the tribes of Indians, dwell- 
ing in the vicinity, showed any jealousy of the col- 
onists, or were more than usually irritable or war- 
like ; on the contrary, they were evidently a people 
of mild and gentle disposition, altogether inclined 
to afford the strangers a friendly reception, and 
looking to them as allies, rather than as enemies. 
But the friendly feelings of uncivilized nations, 
however strongly manifested, are to be relied upon 
with caution. To guard, therefore, against sur- 
prise or sudden attack, the town was surrounded 
with palisades; and strong gates were made at 
the entrances of the place, which were guarded 
every night with great strictness. 

We may suppose, that the planters of our town, 
in addition to instituting a government of the sim- 
plest form, obtaining a title to their lands, and in- 
closing themselves by a rude fortification, passed 
the first summer in erecting a few buildings which 
might afford a shelter from the approaching win- 
ter, and making a beginning in cultivating the 
ground. Having thus brought their affairs into a 
state of comparative order and comfort, in June of 
the following year, they entered upon the subject 
of reorganizing their civil state; or what in modern 
language would be called, forming a new constitu- 
tion. From our relation to the men engaged in 
this transaction, and as the business of making 
constitutions of government, was, at that time, a 
novelty in the world, it may not be uninteresting 
to look, with some particularity, at the mode of 
proceeding then adopted, as well as at what was 



24 

done, in laying the foundations of a commonwealth. 
The meeting for this purpose was in a new barn 
built by Mr. Newman, one of the principal colo- 
nists. To this council, the decisions of which were 
to be so important to the new community, all the 
free planters were admitted. Here then, at the 
outset, was a practical recognition of the principle, 
that the true foundation of government is in the 
consent of the governed. 

No reference direct or indirect, was made by those 
concerned in this transaction, to their native coun- 
try. As at the time the colonists signed their plan- 
tation covenant, so now, they seem to have sup- 
posed, that since they were in fact beyond the ac- 
tual control of any existing sovereignty, they had 
a perfect right to institute a government for them- 
selves. The business of the meeting, in conform- 
ity to the views of those assembled, and to the pro- 
priety of the case, was introduced by prayer ; and 
Mr. Davenport proposed various queries to the 
planters, and urged them " to consider seriously in 
the presence and fear of God, the weight of the bu- 
siness they met about, and not to be rash or slight 
in giving their votes to things they understood not; 
but to digest fully and thoroughly what should be 
propounded to them, and without respect to men, 
as they should be satisfied and persuaded in their 
own minds, to give their answers in such sort, as 
they should be willing should stand upon record for 
posterity." They then unanimously assented to the 
proposition, " that the scriptures do hold forth a 
perfect rule for the direction and government of all 
men in all duties, which they are to perform to God 



25 

and men, as well in families and commonwealth, as 
in matters of the church." After this, they renewed 
their assent to their plantation covenant ; and 
among other fundamental regulations adopted this, 
which was by far the most important, " that church 
members only shall be free burgesses, and that they 
only shall choose magistrates and officers among 
themselves, to have power of transacting all the 
public civil affairs of the plantation ; of making 
and repealing laws, dividing inheritances, deciding 
differences that may arise, and " doing all things 
and businesses of like nature." This article of the 
new constitution was objected to by one individual; 
who, however, after some explanations by Mr. Ea- 
ton and others, withdrew his opposition, and, per- 
haps, united with the rest of the assembly, in admit- 
ting this provision as a part of their political system. 
The limitation of the right of voting and of hold- 
ing public offices to church members, was obviously 
a favorite measure with Mr. Eaton, Mr. Davenport 
and other leading men of the colony ; and what they 
designed from the first to make the foundation of 
their civil polity. The same regulation had before 
been adopted in Massachusetts ; and it was, in fact, 
the same in principle as the English law, which 
has been repealed within a few years only, by 
which receiving the sacrament, in the established 
church, was a necessary qualification for holding 
any office under government. The planters were 
persuaded that a christian community ought to be 
governed on christian principles; and to secure 
this important object, they believed it necessary to 
confine all participation in public transactions to 

4 



26 

those, who had expressly recognized those princi- 
ples, and professed to make them the rule of their 
lives. 

Mr. Davenport,* however, was far from adopting 
the opinion, that church members, as citizens, 
should be invested by law with exclusive privileges. 
On the contrary, he fully maintained, that none 
should be excluded " from any civil right or liberty, 
that is due to them as inhabitants and planters," 
and that all should have "the benefit of justice un- 
der the government where they live." To make 
distinctions here, he said, "were, indeed, to have 
the commonwealth swallowed up of the church." 
He held likewise, that there is a great difference 
" between a commonwealth already settled, and a 
commonwealth yet to be settled, and wherein men 
are free to choose what form they shall judge best." 
In the latter case, he would limit political rights to 
church members, if possible ; but that a majority 
should control in settling the qualifications of vo- 
ters, he readily admitted. Whoever affirmed the 
contrary, and defended the inherent right of the 
church to exercise the powers of government, was, 
according to John Davenport, a more fit subject 
for physic than for argument. 

What the planters had in view, may be appro- 
ved, without admitting the propriety of the means 
adopted for accomplishing their purpose. They 
wished to secure honesty and integrity in the pub- 
lic service; to bring the best men into office; those 
who would well understand the public good, and 

' Note E. 



27 

undeviatingly pursue it. That so desirable an end 
could be attained without some limitation on the 
right of suffrage, they did not believe. All restric- 
tions on this right, whether of age, residence, prop- 
erty or rank, are defensible only as they afford se- 
curities for an intelligent and honest exercise of so 
important a privilege. If such restrictions fail 
here, they are unjust and oppressive. The colo- 
nists, like other founders of states, aimed to ascer- 
tain the character of those, who were to vote for 
public functionaries. They were aware, that such 
as are the electors, such ultimately will be those 
who are elected, to administer the government. 
Hence the solicitude so strongly manifested by the 
first colonists of New Haven in executing what 
they denominated their " foundation work." If this 
should be firm, they had little apprehension about 
the superstructure. 

The opinion of the planters as to the correspond- 
ence between the character of laws, and the char- 
acter of those who make them, was obviously the 
same as that of the founder of Pennsylvania. "Gov- 
ernments," says William Penn, "rather depend 
upon men, then men upon governments. Let men 
be good, and the government cannot be bad ; if it 
be ill, they will cure it. But if men be bad, let the 
government be never so good, they will endeavor 
to warp and spoil it to their turn. I know some 
say, let us have good laws, and no matter for the 
men that execute them : but let them consider, that 
though good laws do well, good men do better; for 
good laws may want good men, and be abolished 
or evaded by ill men ; but good men never want 



28 

good laws, nor suffer ill ones. It is true, good laws 
have some awe upon ill ministers, but that is where 
they have not power to escape or abolish them, and 
the people are generally wise and good ; but a loose 
and depraved people love laws and an administra- 
tion like themselves."* It was from a firm belief 
of truths like these, that the puritans of Massachu- 
setts and New Haven determined to confine the 
privilege of voting and of holding civil office to 
church members. 

There was undoubtedly, in the peculiar danger 
to which the colony was exposed, an additional rea- 
son for limiting political privileges. Religious im- 
munities, such as the colonists possessed, and which 
had been acquired by so great sacrifices, were con- 
sidered as claiming the highest consideration, or 
rather as involving every other interest; and it was 
not unnatural in these circumstances, that some 
way should be sought after, which might exclude 
from direct participation in the government all 
who might be supposed to favor the ecclesiastical 
domination of the parent country. For this end, 
no plan probably appeared to the planters more 
effectual, than to confine the right of voting and of 
holding office to individuals of their own commun- 
ion. They were founding what they designed to be 
a strictly christian commonwealth, and took what 
appeared to them the surest means of guarding it 
from declension. Such an enterprise they thought 
it possible to achieve ; or, at least, they were will- 
ing to try the experiment. As they were finally 

* Proud'3 Hist, of Pennsylvania, Vol. II. Append. II. 



29 

unanimous in admitting the provision in question 
into their constitution, there was no one of that gen- 
eration, who could reasonably complain. 

But with the more full opportunity which we 
have had of observing the operation of popular gov- 
ernments, there is no difficulty in seeing, that the 
colonists, however correct may have been their in- 
tentions, adopted a rule for determining the quali- 
fications of voters, which, as a permanent measure, 
was likely to promote neither their civil nor eccle- 
siastical interests. The test promised much more 
than it could accomplish. Hardly any truth has 
been more fully confirmed by the experience of 
mankind, than that religious professions, like pro- 
fessions of patriotism, may be the loudest, where 
there is the least of the principle from which they 
can honestly proceed. Mere declarations, when 
employed as a check upon avarice and ambition, 
are of little worth. They serve often to embarrass 
the fair-minded and sincere; while they afford a 
convenient cloak for the designing. This abridg- 
ment of the right of suffrage was continued till the 
dissolution of the colony. It became, however, 
more and more the subject of complaint and con- 
troversy ; and would probably have been abrogated 
within a few years, if it had not ceased to exist by 
the union of New Haven with Connecticut. 

After the completion of the fundamental agree- 
ment, the organization of the government followed. 
The mode of proceeding in this important part of 
the civil arrangements of the planters, is so char- 
acteristic of the individuals concerned, and seems 
so well to illustrate the principles by which they 



30 

were guided, that, on an occasion like this, it merits 
our particular attention. For the purpose of se- 
lecting fit members for the beginning of a church 
and of a civil state, the town was divided into dis- 
tricts. In each of these districts, one who was con- 
sidered the most suitable person to belong to the 
church, which was to be constituted, was selected 
and nominated for this purpose. The individuals 
thus named in these private assemblies, were au- 
thorized to meet and reduce their number to twelve; 
and these again from their body to choose seven, 
who were to stand as the original church members. 
These district assemblies were accordingly held, 
prayers were offered, the christian character of 
candidates was investigated, and seven individuals 
having passed this ordeal, were nominated as the 
constituent members of the first church.* With 
these men, therefore, was placed, by the voluntary 
act of the planters, all the civil and ecclesiastical 
power of the new commonwealth. Others they ad- 
mitted to their franchise, or excluded from it, as 
they judged them qualified for admission to the 
privileges of the church. Property was not requi- 
red to constitute a voter. Personal character, as 
developed in the attainment of church-membership, 
was the only ground on which any individual was 
admitted to the exercise of political power. Such 
was the first fully organized government of the 
town of New Haven. 

But though this constitutional act, or, as it was 
called, " fundamental agreement," was adopted in 

* Note F. 



31 

June, 1639, the first election under its provisions 
was not held till the 25th of October of the same 
year. At this time Theophilus Eaton was chosen 
magistrate, and four other persons were chosen 
deputies. To these were added a public notary 
and a marshal; all being elected for one year. 
This was the entire civil establishment. Among 
the first acts of the new government, was an order, 
"that a meeting-house be built forthwith," and 
"that the carpenters fell timber where they can 
find it." A committee was appointed " to have the 
disposing of all the house-lots yet undisposed of;" 
and "that none shall come to dwell as planters 
here without their consent and allowance." Vig- 
orous measures were taken for arming the planters 
for defense against any attack by the savages. It 
was likewise " ordered, that no planter or planters 
shall make purchase of any lands or plantations 
from the Indians or others, for their own private 
use or advantage, but in the name and for the use 
of the whole plantation." 

As to the division of lands, it was ordered, after 
each of the planters had made a representation of 
his property, that " every planter in the town shall 
have a proportion of land, according to the propor- 
tion of estate which he hath given in, and number 
of heads in his family." The advance, which might 
be made by retailers on " commodities bought in 
England," or introduced into the colony from "Vir- 
ginia, the Bay, or Connecticut," and the price at 
which venison should be sold, was regulated by a 
public order. The price of labor of all kinds was 
likewise fixed by law. A watch was kept every 



32 

night with great strictness, and an order was issued, 
" that every man appointed to watch, whether mas- 
ters or servants, shall come every Lord's day to the 
meeting completely armed, and all others also are 
to bring their swords ; no man exempted, save Mr. 
Eaton, the pastor, [Mr. Davenport,] Mr. James, Mr. 
Samuel Eaton, [who were also ministers,] and two 
deacons." Various other similar regulations were 
adopted, originating in the peculiar circumstances 
of the colony, and illustrative of the condition of an 
infant settlement in the wilderness, and surrounded 
by savages. In September of the year 1640, the 
town was first called New Haven. 

Within a few years, several other towns in the 
neighborhood, in which settlements had been begun, 
as Milford, Guilford, Branford, Stamford, and South- 
hold on Long Island, united with New Haven, and 
adopted the fundamental principle of the govern- 
ment. Their magistrates and deputies, with those 
of New Haven, formed the General Court of the col- 
ony. In each town, certain " fit and able men" were 
declared to be the ordinary judges, who with the ma- 
gistrates held what was called a plantation court, in 
which civil causes might be tried, when the sum in 
controversy did not exceed twenty shillings; and all 
criminal cases, when the punishment " according to 
the mind of God revealed in his word," did not ex- 
ceed " stocking and whipping ;" or if the fine was 
pecuniary, that it " exceed not five pounds." Ap- 
peals might be made from the plantation courts, to 
the court of magistrates of the whole jurisdiction. 
The general interests of the colony were superin- 
tended and provided for by the General Court or 



33 

legislature. On the union of these towns in 1643, 
Mr. Eaton was first designated by the title of gov- 
ernor. As no detailed plan for constituting the 
magistracy was to be found in the "fundamental 
agreement," changes were made in the organiza- 
tion of the government by the General Court, when- 
ever they were judged necessary ; but there seems 
never to have been any reference to the planters in 
the several towns, or to a convention, to sanction 
these alterations. The wishes of the people as made 
known through their representatives, and their sub- 
sequent acquiescence, were probably thought a suf- 
ficient confirmation of what was done. 

The course of legal proceedings in the New Ha- 
ven colony was peculiar ; especially as the courts 
conducted all trials without a jury. We are told 
by Hubbard, in his history of New England, that 
this exclusion of juries was a measure urged by 
Governor Eaton, whom he calls " a great reader 
and traveller."* It is probable, that this gentle- 
man, during his residence in the north of Europe, 
where the institution of juries is unknown, formed 
a favorable opinion of the courts of those coun- 
tries ; and as New Haven was, in some respects, 
an experimental colony, he wished to conform the 
courts in this new settlement, so far at least as a 
jury was concerned, to a favorite model. Legal 
proceedings were almost entirely free from forms 
and technicalities ; the parties told their own sto- 
ries, with very little check from the court ; intro- 
duced such evidence, for the most part, as they 



320. 

5 



34 

pleased ; argued with the judges ; and decisions 
were given according to what appeared to be the 
equity of the case. Full records of trials, both 
civil and criminal, which took place at this period, 
are preserved, which furnish a very distinct and 
graphic view of the state of the colony, and the 
character of the inhabitants. 

Under this simple form of government, the col- 
ony continued till 1655; very few laws having 
been enacted, and the courts being guided in their 
decisions by the general principles of justice and 
equity, with such illustrations as could be drawn 
from the scriptures. In 1655, Governor Eaton was 
requested by the General Court to compile a code 
of laws for the colony ; and that he might the bet- 
ter accomplish this undertaking, the court recom- 
mended, that he should consult Mr. Cotton's Dis- 
course on civil government in a new plantation, 
and the laws of Massachusetts. Whether any dis- 
satisfaction had been expressed by the people, that 
the courts were left so much to their own discre- 
tion, or whether it was their wish only, as in some 
other cases, to conform more exactly to the exam- 
ple of Massachusetts, is a matter of conjecture. 
The expediency, however, of such a code cannot be 
doubted. The work having been completed, it was 
first examined and approved by the elders of the 
jurisdiction, and afterwards accepted by the Gen- 
eral Court. It was printed in England under the 
inspection of Governor Hopkins, and in 1656, dis- 
tributed through the colony. 

These laws, in connection with the recorded de- 
cisions of the courts, of which I have just spoken, 



35 

have been a fruitful topic of remark by two classes 
of persons ; those who have wished to represent the 
puritans in the most forbidding and even odious 
character, and those who have considered them 
the proper subjects of satire and ridicule. What- 
ever is absurd or frivolous, or thought to be ultra-pu- 
ritanical in government, has been most liberally 
charged upon the New Haven legislation; and 
thousands have believed implicitly in the existence 
of the " blue laws," who could scarcely be said to 
have any other article of faith.* To much of this 
calumny and vulgar wit, it would, perhaps, be suffi- 
cient to reply in the language of the defenders of 
New England in 1642. " Some," say they, " have 
been punished for their delinquencies, or restrained 
for their exorbitancies, or discountenanced for their 
ill opinions, and not suffered to vent their stuff; 
and hence being displeased, take revenge by slan- 
derous report."f But on an occasion like the pres- 
ent, when the proceedings and characters of the 
founders of this colony are brought directly under 
review ; it may not be improper, — it is rather an 
incumbent duty, — to inquire a little more particu- 
larly, into the provisions of this early code, that we 
may see, whether here, or any where else, there is 
proper ground for a very common impression on 
this subject. 

The "fundamental agreement" of June, 1639, 
contained little more, than a determination of the 
question, to what class of persons the right of vo- 
ting and of holding any office in the colony should 

* Note G. t 1 Mass. Hist. Col. 250, 



36 

appertain. What had been enacted, from time to 
time, by the General Court for instituting the ma- 
gistracy, and the courts of justice, and for fixing the 
times of electing public officers, and which had 
been found, on trial, to be expedient, was now estab- 
lished, " as a foundation for government, though it 
was foreseen and agreed, that the circumstantials 

therein might after be considered, continued and 

altered, as might best suit the course of justice and 
the conveniency of the plantations." The whole 
system was highly democratical; and its perma- 
nency was based on the character of the people, 
and on annual elections. It was made the duty of 
the legislature, among other things, " to provide for 
the maintenance of the purity of religion, and sup- 
press the contrary," " to require an oath from all 
the magistrates," " to call them to an account for 
the breach of any laws established, or for other mis- 
demeanors in their places," to impose an oath of 
fidelity on all "freemen, planters, and inhabitants, 
fit to take an oath," to order "such works and for- 
tifications, as they conceived might tend to the bet- 
ter defense of the colony," " to regulate trade," to 
lay taxes, and to hear and determine causes, civil 
or criminal in the last resort. 

On examining the more particular laws, one of 
the first things which strikes us, is a general enact- 
ment, intended, without doubt, as a concise decla- 
ration of the object and character of the whole sys- 
tem. It is in these words. " It is ordered by this 
court and the authority thereof, that no man's life 
shall be taken away, no man's honor or good name 
shall be stained, no man's person shall be impris- 



37 

oned, banished or otherwise punished, no man shall 
be deprived of his wife or children, no man's goods 
or estate shall be taken from him, under color of 
law or countenance of authority, unless it be by 
virtue or equity of some express law of this juris- 
diction, established by the General Court, and suf- 
ficiently published; or for want of a law in any par- 
ticular case, by the word of God." Is there here 
any thing ridiculous? any thing whimsical? any 
thing opposed to the dictates of common sense? 
On the contrary, do we not recognize in this pre- 
fatory statute of the New Haven code, the great 
principles of free government, expressed in lan- 
guage full and explicit? principles, which have been 
constantly kept in view from the first settlement of 
this state. Just that prominency and emphasis are 
here given to security of person and property, which 
might be expected. It was a matter of course, 
that men who had suffered so greatly as the first 
colonists of New England, from arbitrary impris- 
onments, exactions and forfeitures, should, in estab- 
lishing a government for themselves, guard their 
privileges with especial care. This they did ; and 
the statute now recited, which was copied from the 
laws of Massachusetts, and which was also prefixed 
to the Connecticut code of 1650, the General Court 
of New Haven adopted as a fit introduction to their 
legislative acts. It was contained, with little va- 
riation, in every edition of the laws of Connecticut 
till 1817, and is substantially incorporated into the 
present constitution of the state. We have here 
a proof, how well the principles of civil liberty were 
comprehended by our ancestors, and of their deter- 
mination to maintain them. 



38 

It will not be expected, that every law of this 
early code, should now pass under review. A con- 
sideration of a few of its provisions, is all which the 
time allows, or the occasion demands. From the 
leading features of this specimen of early legisla- 
tion, its general character can be easily discerned. 

If there is any thing in the institutions of a free 
state, which shows the character of its founders, 
it is the regard paid to the education of youth. 
Religion, morals, enterprise, whatever benefits or 
adorns society, rest here on their surest foundation ; 
and where effectual provision is made in the in- 
fancy of a community for general instruction, other 
salutary regulations may be expected to accom- 
pany them. Take from our commonwealth the 
universal education of our citizens, and our social 
system is at an end. The forms might continue for 
a time; but its spirit would have fled. To suppose, 
that pure religion, pure morals, an upright admin- 
istration of government, and a peaceable, orderly, 
and agreeable intercourse in the domestic and social 
relations of life can exist, where the people as a 
body are ignorant of letters, is an egregious sole- 
cism. I do not say, that education is all that is 
needed; but without knowledge generally diffused, 
other means of improving human society, are com- 
paratively weak and unavailing. This truth the 
first planters of New Haven strongly felt ; and the 
record of their acts furnishes most honorable proof, 
that the course of their legislation was in conform- 
ity with their convictions. 

Among the early proceedings of the General 
Court, while its jurisdiction was confined within 



39 

the limits of duinnipiac, we find that an order was 
given to establish a public school for the instruction 
of youth, and a committee was appointed to con- 
sider " what yearly allowance is meet to be given 
to it out of the common stock of the town." This 
order was made at the same time in which the plan- 
ters were taxing themselves very heavily for the 
erection of bridges. The very year in which the 
" fundamental agreement" was entered into, we find 
a record, that Thomas Fugill is required to keep 
Charles Higginson, an indented apprentice, "at 
school one year ; or else to advantage him as much 
in his education, as a year's learning comes to." 
Charles Higginson was probably the first appren- 
tice indented in the colony, and this condition of his 
apprenticeship 'was recorded, undoubtedly as an 
example of privileges to be granted to all in the 
same circumstances. Here is a proceeding, which 
marks as distinctly as any measure could, the views 
entertained by the leaders of the colony, of the 
value of education, the protection which ought to 
be extended to the indigent, and their regard for 
popular rights. If any one hereafter shall wish to 
inspect the early colonial records of New Haven, 
to find subjects of reproach or merriment, let him 
be referred to the entry of the indentures of Charles 
Higginson. If all the ridiculous and absurd re- 
ports which have been circulated about the New 
Haven laws were founded in fact, this single record, 
in the opinion of the intelligent and unprejudiced, 
would throw them at once into the shade. Such 
a course of policy as is here unfolded, such charity 
for a class of the community, at that time, and still, 



40 

under every European government but little re- 
garded, would cover a multitude of sins. No sug- 
gestion for the adoption of a rule by which an ele- 
mentary education was secured to apprentices, 
could have been received from any law of the pa- 
rent country. No act of parliament, it is believed, 
embracing such a provision, exists in England, with 
all its improvement and wealth, to the present day. 
But not only were the advantages of a common 
school education immediately secured to all, but 
with a wise reference to what is essential to the full 
success of common schools themselves, provision 
was very early made for the higher branches of 
instruction, and a grammar school was established. 
As early as 1654, when the colony was suffering 
from the failure of their commercial projects, and 
when the estates of individuals were greatly dimin- 
ished, and even doubts were entertained by some, 
whether it was expedient to struggle any longer 
against disaster; Mr. Davenport gave a strong 
proof of his confidence in the stability of the set- 
tlement, and its ultimate prosperity, by the efforts 
which he made for the beginning of a college. He 
brought forward before the General Court a plan 
for such an institution ; and the town of New Ha- 
ven, notwithstanding its depressed state, made a 
donation in land for its encouragement. The pro- 
ject was, indeed, premature, and on further consid- 
eration was properly deferred to a later period; 
but it shows not less clearly, than if it had been put 
into immediate operation, the enlarged views of 
the projector, and the principles by which he was 
guided. The foundations of the colony he wished 



41 

to lay deep and firm ; and the intelligence of the 
people was that, on which he chiefly relied, to give 
strength and durability to the political edifice. 

It may not be irrelevant to the subject to remark 
here, that neither the system of common schools, nor 
of those of a higher class, originated in any strong 
expression of public opinion; but was devised and 
carried forward by such men as John Davenport. 
A glance at the course of legislation on this sub- 
ject, is sufficient to establish this truth beyond 
doubt. Schools were at first instituted by a gen- 
eral law, without any penalty to secure its execu- 
tion; but this proved insufficient. Another law, 
therefore, respecting children's education, was in- 
troduced into the New Haven code of 1656, which 
was very explicit, and guarded by abundant sanc- 
tions. The deputies, constables, and other officers 
in public trust, are required " to have a vigilant 
eye over their brethren and neighbors," and to take 
care " that all their children and apprentices, as 
they grow capable, may through God's blessing, 
attain at least so much, as to be able duly to read 
the scriptures, and other good and profitable printed 
books in the English tongue, being their native lan- 
guage, and in some competent measure to under- 
stand the main grounds and principles of the chris- 
tian religion necessary to salvation ; and to give an 
answer to such plain and ordinary questions, as 
may by the said deputies, officer or officers, be pro- 
pounded concerning the same." Delinquents un- 
der this law were first warned ; if they continued 
in fault, they were fined ; if no reformation followed, 
the fine was doubled ; if it still appeared, that the 

6 



42 

children or servants of any family were "in dan- 
ger to grow barbarous, rude and stubborn through 
ignorance," the court of magistrates is authorized 
" to proceed as they find cause, either to a greater 
fine, taking security for due conformity to the scope 
and intent of this law, or may take such children 
or apprentices from such parents or masters, and 
place them for years, — boys till they come to the 
age of one and twenty, and girls till they come to 
the age of eighteen years, — with such others, who 
shall better educate and govern them, both for pub- 
lic convenience, and for the particular good of the 
said children or apprentices." 

The course of legislation in Connecticut, and in 
the united colony after 1665, shows conclusively, 
that neither the prospect of advantage from educa- 
tion, nor the dread of penalties, was sufficient to 
secure the proper execution of the laws respecting 
schools. Accordingly, the select-men of every town 
were required to see that none " suffer so much bar- 
barism in any of their families," as not to " teach 
their children and apprentices so much learning, 
as may enable them perfectly to read the English 
tongue;" and by a subsequent statute, it was made 
the duty of the grand-jurymen in each town, once a 
a year, at least, "to visit suspected families and 
satisfy themselves, whether all children under age 
and servants in such suspected families, can read 
the English tongue, or be in a good procedure to 
learn the same." Still later it was enacted, that 
" if any be unable to do so much," that is, to teach 
their children and apprentices to read the English 
tongue, " that then at the least, they procure such 



43 

children and apprentices to learn some short ortho- 
dox catechism, without book, that they may be able 
to answer to the questions that shall be propounded 
to them out of such catechism, by their parents, or 
masters, or ministers, when they shall call them to 
an account of what they have learned in that kind ;" 
and all who were found delinquent were subjected 
to heavy penalties. These are specimens of the 
early laws of New Haven and Connecticut on the 
subject of schools. From this detail it is manifest, 
that the introduction of the common school system 
was a work of time, and of unwearied effort. By 
perseverance, however, the benefits of education 
were finally perceived and acknowledged by all; 
a school was brought to every man's door ; the 
poor, and even the slave, were within the reach of 
instruction ; and hence, for nearly a century and a 
half, a native of Connecticut of mature age, unable 
to " read the English tongue," has been looked upon 
as a prodigy. 

It has been a matter of some curiosity to ascer- 
tain, to what man, or class of men, the honor of 
having originated our system of schools, belongs. 
A distinguished citizen of Connecticut remarked 
more than forty years ago : " Did I know the name 
of the legislator, who first conceived, and suggested 
the idea, [of common schools,] I should pay to his 
memory, the highest tribute of reverence and re- 
gard. I should feel for him, a much higher venera- 
tion and respect, than I do for Lycurgus and Solon, 
the celebrated legislators of Sparta and Athens. I 
should revere him as the greatest benefactor of the 
human race ; because he has been the author of a 



44 

provision, which, if it should be adopted in every 
country, would produce a happier and more import- 
ant influence on the human character, than any 
institution which the wisdom of man has devised."* 
Perhaps the honor of devising the scheme of pop- 
ular education, which has prevailed in New Eng- 
land, belongs exclusively to no individual. It ori- 
ginated rather in the general wish to bring all di- 
rectly to the scriptures for religious knowledge, 
and in a regard for popular rights, both of which 
were distinguishing traits of puritanism, than in the 
sagacity and benevolent efforts of any one man. 
But if the inquiry should be, to whom is to be as- 
cribed the honor of establishing the school-system 
of the New Haven colony, the question is easily 
answered. It is the just due of Theophilus Eaton 
and John Davenport ; or if a distinction must be 
made here, abundant evidence exists in the colony 
records, that the preeminence belongs to the lat- 
ter.f In John Davenport was that deep conviction 
of the value of general intelligence, especially, in 
his view of the subject, as the means of diffusing 
sound religious instruction, that energy and that 
resolution, which are essential to the successful 
introduction into a community of a practical com- 
mon school system ; and it is to men like him, that 
the credit should be given, of having by their influ- 
ence carried this system forward, to its full ex- 
ecution. 

The extension of common schools, and their effect 
on the general interests of society, have been far 

* 1 Swift's System, 159. t Note H. 



45 

greater, than could have been anticipated by those, 
who in the infancy of New England, introduced 
and nurtured them, with such exemplary perse- 
verance. They have increased not only in num- 
bers, but in strength ; and their hold on the affec- 
tions of the people, has, with the progress of years, 
been more and more firm. The numerous emi- 
grants from those states, where common schools 
were first established, have, in their wide disper- 
sion, carried the system with them. A school they 
have considered as next in necessity to a shelter 
from the elements ; and as the forests disappear at 
the west, one of the first structures in a New Eng- 
land settlement, which greets the eye, is the school- 
house. Those parts of New England, which were 
originally settled without the school-system, have 
from a view of its advantages, for the most part 
adopted it ; the northern and western parts of the 
United States, where the influence of New Eng- 
land emigrants has been most felt, have adopted it; 
the same system is viewed with increasing favor, 
where its establishment is yet but partial ; and the 
time may be reasonably anticipated as not far dis- 
tant, in which its prevalence will be co-extensive 
with the population of the Union. The source of 
the wide-spread and incalculable benefits of popu- 
lar education in America, may be traced, without 
danger of error, to a few of the leading puritans ; 
and among these, the founders of the little colony 
of New Haven, deserve a most honorable place. 
Hubbard says, — " They," the people of New Ha- 
ven, " made many attempts, all along from the first 
to the last of their being a distinct colony, — even 



46 

such as were above their strength, — to promote 
learning by public schools."* To the vigorous and 
patient efforts of these men, we are indebted for this 
effectual mode of really benefitting the many ; and 
it may not be too much to say, that if the early pil- 
grims, more particularly of Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut, had not struggled and toiled for this great 
object, and if they had not been immediately suc- 
ceeded by men who had imbibed a large portion of 
the same spirit, the school-system of New England 
would not now exist. 

On examining further Governor Eaton's code, 
and the recorded proceedings of the government, 
we find that provision was made in the colony by 
law, for the support of religion. The same reg- 
ulation was adopted in the colony of Connecticut, 
and was continued after the union in 1665. This 
measure has called forth commendation from some, 
while with others it has been a subject of censure 
and reproach. But it should be recollected, that 
the great object of the establishment of the colony, 
was religion. Placing this out of view, perhaps not 
an individual of the settlement would have ever re- 
moved to America. Religion, therefore, with the 
first inhabitants, was, in the highest sense, a matter 
of public interest. It was the subject of all others 
nearest their hearts; and the last which they would 
allow to be dependent on charity. The first clergy 
in the New Haven colony, as in the other colonies 
of New England, were men of learning as well as 
of talents ; they had, most of them, received their 



324. 



47 

education in the English universities, and had en- 
joyed all the advantages in preparing themselves for 
their profession, which England afforded. What- 
ever may be true now, to support at that time, in a 
few feeble and dispersed settlements, such men, 
with a prospect that they would be succeeded by 
others worthy of their places, was impossible with- 
out public aid. 

The ministers also in the several congregations, 
had the principal part in forming the character of 
the new communities. The whole subject of edu- 
cation was one, which fell principally to their 
charge. If a legal maintenance had not been se- 
cured to them, devoted as the people at first were 
to religion, there is no reason to believe from any 
facts recorded, that the country in a few genera- 
tions, would not have been overrun by ignorance 
and fanaticism. If we are now secure against these 
evils, it is to be attributed principally to the general 
education which prevails ; which these men, more 
than any others, were active in promoting. Be- 
sides, there is no evidence, that for the first hundred 
years after the settlement of tli£ colony, the support 
of the pastors of the churches by law, was a subject 
of complaint ; and for fifty years more, complaints, 
if they existed, were confined to a very small num- 
ber. The first colonists had been accustomed to pay 
tithes in their native country. Here they adopted 
a system far less onerous, and contributed to sup- 
port those, who were pastors by popular choice, 
and the objects of their respect and reverence. Ac- 
cording to the law of the New Haven colony, cer- 
tain magistrates in each town called on all the in- 



48 

habitants and desired every one " to set down the 
proportion he was willing and able to allow yearly, 
while God continued his estate, towards the main- 
tenance of the ministry;" and if any one refused or 
delayed, or set down " an unmeet proportion," the 
magistrates were authorized, " to assess every such 
person, according to his visible estate, with due 
moderation, and in equal proportion with his neigh- 
bors." Those who maintain, that the course adop- 
ted was wrong, must still admit, that it was far less 
objectionable, than that, to which the colonists had 
been used in England. 

But, it is said, that laws were enacted both in 
New Haven and Connecticut, requiring attendance 
on religious worship ; and that these laws are evi- 
dence of the over rigid and oppressive spirit of the 
puritans. But before we decide positively on this 
subject, we ought to inquire, whether this legal re- 
quirement to be present at the public services of 
religion, was exclusively a puritanical measure. 
What then was the law of England respecting this 
same subject? If we turn to the act of the 35th of 
Elizabeth, entitled an act " to retain the Queen's 
Majesty's subjects in their due obedience," — we 
shall find, that " any person or persons, above the 
age of sixteen years, which shall obstinately refuse 
to repair to some church, chapel, or usual place of 
common prayer, to hear divine service established 
by her Majesty's laws and statutes in that behalf 
made," — "or shall advisedly or maliciously move 
or persuade any other person whatsoever to forbear 
or abstain from coming to church to hear divine 
service, or to receive the communion according to 



49 

her Majesty's laws and statutes" — " or be present 
at any unlawful assemblies, conventicles, or meet- 
ings, under color or pretence of any exercise of re- 
ligion contrary to her Majesty's said laws and stat- 
utes," and being thereof lawfully convicted, "shall 
be committed to prison, there to remain without 
bail or mainprize, until they shall conform and yield 
themselves, to come to some church, chapel, or 
usual place of common prayer, and hear divine ser- 
vice according to her Majesty's laws and statutes 
aforesaid." The offender not conforming, he was 
obliged " to abjure the realm," and " if he return," 
it is added, "without her Majesty's special license 
in that behalf," — " the person so offending shall be 
adjudged a felon, and shall suffer, as in case of fel- 
ony, without benefit of clergy." What law, in any 
part of New England relating to religious worship, 
can be compared in severity to this ? Here is one 
of the laws, from which the puritans fled; and the 
corresponding laws enacted in New Haven and 
Connecticut, though all would now condemn them 
as unnecessarily rigid, and in cases which might 
occur, encroaching on the rights of conscience, yet 
compared with the law just recited, and this is the 
only proper mode of judging concerning them, 
they are forbearing, lenient, mild. The laws of 
Virginia, likewise, which were enacted in the in- 
fancy of that colony, to compel every person to go 
to church, on Sundays and holydays, were far more 
severe, than those of any part of New England. 

It should also be recollected, that the early laws 
of Connecticut enforcing attendance on public wor- 
ship, concerned congregationalists alone ; as none 

7 



50 

other than congregationalists were in the colony. 
In the year 1665, when the king's commissioners 
visited New England, they reported, that the people 
of Connecticut "will not hinder any from enjoying 
the sacraments, and using the common prayer book, 
provided that they hinder not the maintenance of 
the public minister ;" # — as high a religious privi- 
lege, as any enjoyed by dissenters in England at 
the present day. When, after an interval of more 
than half a century, religious societies were formed 
in Connecticut, which adopted the ritual of the 
church of England, not only were these societies al- 
lowed, but all belonging to them, as soon as it could 
be conveniently done, were released from contribu- 
ting to the support of the congregational ministers. 
The same liberty was allowed to those who adopted 
other forms of worship; nor is there reason to be- 
lieve, that these changes in the original enactments 
were made, without the concurrence of a large ma- 
jority of the congregational clergy. What then is 
the amount of the objections against the laws which 
have been considered? When all the inhabitants 
of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies enter- 
tained the same views of religion, all by law con- 
tributed to its support, were required to attend on 
the religious instruction thus provided, and were 
satisfied, that it should be so. As a diversity of re- 
ligious opinions was introduced, the laws were ac- 
commodated to this new state of the community. 
Douglass, who had little sympathy with the puri- 
tans, said in 1753, " I never heard of any persecu- 

* Hutch. Col. 412. 



51 

ting spirit in Connecticut ; in this they are egre- 
giously aspersed."* This is true ; and the aspersions 
referred to hy this author have not been discontin- 
ued. But it may be said without fear of contradic- 
tion, from any one who knows whereof he affirms, 
that no example can be produced in the whole his- 
tory of christian nations, where a community unan- 
imous in their religion, and urged by so many in- 
ducements to maintain it, have changed their laws, 
and made every concession desired, more promptly, 
fully, and cheerfully, than the people of Connec- 
ticut.f 

It has been likewise objected to the New Haven 
code, that it contained a severe law against lying; 
against "wittingly and willingly" making and pub- 
lishing " any lie, tending to the damage or injury 
of any particular person, or with intent to deceive 
and abuse the people with false news or reports." 
This law has been supposed to contain the very 
essence of puritanism. Horrible tyranny ! that a 
whole community should, in their communications 
with each other, when professing to speak the truth, 
be confined to plain matter of fact ; and that indi- 
viduals should be so far abridged of their liberty, 
as not to be able, at will, " to deceive and abuse the 
people with false news or reports." But the pu- 
ritans did not originate this law. Moses long ago 
said, " thou shalt not raise a false report ;"J and if 
we look back into the code of the good king Alfred, 
the wise sovereign of our Saxon ancestors, the sub- 
ject of unceasing and unbounded panegyric, we 



* Summary, Vol. II. 135. t Note I. t Ex. 23 : 1. 



52 

shall find a similar law; not guarded, like our New 
Haven statute, by the sanctions of a fine, the stocks, 
and the whipping-post ; but whoever was found 
guilty in the premises, was doomed to have his 
tongue cut out. What a tongueless nation should 
we be in danger of becoming, under the operation 
of such a law as this ! But the puritans of New 
England, were not in their own times, singular in 
their laws against lying. Similar laws existed in 
the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, the Catholic 
colony of Maryland, and the Episcopal colony of 
Virginia.* 

But it is said, that there was a law in the New 
Haven code, against heretics ; and that persons 
were tried in New Haven for witchcraft. As to 
heresy, there were one or two instances in the 
New Haven colony, where punishment was inflicted 
for this crime. In March, 1658, Humphrey Nor- 
ton, a quaker, who had a short time before made 
himself notorious in Plymouth, uttered what were 
considered heretical opinions, and in a disorderly 
manner, interrupted public worship, at Southhold, 
on Long Island. For this conduct he was arrested, 
and sent to New Haven for trial ; where, on a 
charge of heresy and of disturbing the public peace, 
he was convicted, and sentenced to be whipped and 
branded. But the quakers, who came into New 
England, at that time, were boisterous, turbulent 
and seditious, and the individual above named ex- 
hibited, on his trial, in a high degree, the usual 
characteristics of that portion of the sect. These 

* Chal. 341, 352. 



53 

circumstances, however, by no means justify the 
proceedings in his case. A milder course would 
have equally restrained disorder, and had a greater 
tendency to convince the offender of error. But 
the severity against this quaker was small, com- 
pared with what took place in other parts of New 
England, and especially in the parent country* 
As to witchcraft, trials of persons charged with 
this crime, were held in New Haven, but I do not 
find, that any one was convicted, much less, con- 
demned to death.f The court, on all occasions of 
this kind, acted as if they had approached the conclu- 
sion, long after commended by Blackstone, " that in 
general, there has been such a thing as witchcraft, 
though one cannot give credit to any particular 
modern instance of iff It is a great mistake also 
to suppose, that arraigning, trying and hanging 
witches, had any necessary connection with puri- 
tanism. The learned and profound Cudworth,§ one 
of the brightest ornaments of the English church, 
declared in 1678, that disbelievers in the existence 
of witchcraft, " can hardly escape the suspicion 
of having some hankering towards atheism ;" and 
more than half a century after the colony of New 
Haven ceased to be a distinct jurisdiction, witches 
were by the English courts condemned to the gal- 
lows. The laws against witchcraft in England 
were not repealed, till the ninth year of George II. ; 
that is, till about a century after the settlement of 
New Haven. But we are told by Douglass, that 



* Note K. t Note L. t Coram. Book IV. C 4. 

§ Intellect. Syst. Book I. Ch. 4. 



54 

" these puritans were pious, honest, well meaning 
people ; but too contracted, rigid, and singular in 
their discipline and practice of devotion."* This 
must be admitted to be, to some extent, true. I am 
far from thinking the puritans to have been fault- 
less. Rigid they most certainly were; and their 
severity, in cases of immorality, was too often ex- 
treme. Their piety also had the appearance, at 
times, of austerity and asceticism; and here, we 
are to look for their chief failings. But though hard- 
favored and unaccommodating, and somewhat con- 
fined in their views on certain points, they were not 
in the proper sense bigoted; if by bigotry, we are 
to understand an obstinate and blind attachment to 
their own particular creed. What was the lan- 
guage of Robinson to the first church at Plym- 
outh ? Though well known, it will bear repetition. 
"If God reveal any thing to you," says this puri- 
tan divine, " be as ready to receive it by any other 
instrument of his, as ever you were to receive any 
truth from my ministry. — I beseech you remember, 
it is an article of your church covenant, that you 
be ready to receive, whatever truths shall be made 
known to you from the written word of God."| 
Look at the language used to their brethren of the 
church of England, by the first emigrants to Mas- 
sachusetts. " We are not of those," say they, " that 
dream of perfection in this world; yet we desire, 
that you would be pleased to take notice of the prin- 
cipals and body of our company, as those who es- 
teem it our honor to call the church of England, 

* Summary, Vol. I. 3/1. ) Morton's Memorial, by Davis, 29. 



55 

from whence we rise, our dear mother ; and cannot 
part from our native country, where she especially 
resideth, without much sadness of heart, and many 
tears in our eyes, ever acknowledging, that such 
part as we have obtained in the common salvation, 
we have received in her bosom." " We shall al- 
ways rejoice in her good, and unfeignedly grieve for 
any sorrow that shall ever betide her, and while 
we have breath sincerely desire and endeavor the 
continuance and abundance of her welfare, with 
the enlargement of her bounds in the kingdom of 
Christ Jesus."* And when the excellent Higgin- 
son of Salem saw the shores of his native country 
sinking in the distance, he called his children 
around him on the deck of the ship, and said, " We 
will not say, as the separatists were wont to say, at 
their leaving England, Farewell Babylon ! Fare- 
well Rome ! — But we will say, farewell dear Eng- 
land ! Farewell the church of God in England, and 
all the christian friends there."t This was the lan- 
guage of most of the puritans, who first came to 
America. Their opposition to the church of Eng- 
land was chiefly political, and limited in a great 
measure to discipline.^ If there are any, therefore, 
among their descendants, who are unwilling to re- 
ceive truth from whatever quarter it comes ; or if 
there are any, who do not feel a reverence for the 
church of England, and pray for its prosperity, 
they neither hold the opinions, nor cherish the 
spirit, of their fathers. 

Most of the leading- laws, therefore, of the New 
Haven colony, may be pronounced to have been wise 



1 Hutch. 487. » Mather's Ma S nal. Book III. 74. X Note M. 



56 

and salutary, and well suited to the circumstances of 
the people for whom they were framed. That some 
enactments were of a questionable character, and a 
few plainly injudicious, no one will deny. But it 
will be asked ; was there not a collection of laws, 
which was never published, relating more partic- 
ularly to the domestic and private concerns of in- 
dividuals? laws so frivolous and absurd, as to have 
been long a favorite topic of sport and ridicule ? 
To this I can say only, that of such an unpublished 
code, I have never seen any trace. No allusion to 
such laws can be found, it is believed, in the re- 
cords of the colony. That in the early periods of 
the settlement, the conduct of individuals was sub- 
jected to a more strict supervision, than would be 
tolerated in a larger community, is undoubtedly 
true. From this circumstance, various distorted 
representations of the early laws of New Haven 
have been industriously circulated, false in fact, 
and injurious to the character of the first planters. 
As in Massachusetts, so in New Haven, the proceed- 
ings of the courts seem to have been adapted in 
many cases " to the circumstances of a large fam- 
ily of children and servants."* The application 
also of the "general rules of righteousness," was 
often made with excessive rigor, and in a way to 
harden, rather than to reclaim, offenders; but that 
there were any sumptuary laws, laws regulating 
dress, or encroaching on the prerogative of fashion, 
I have never discovered the slightest evidence.f 

As to the general history of the colony of New 
Haven, a few particulars only can be mentioned. 

* 1 Hutch. 433. t Note N. 



57 

In 1613, Mr. Eaton and Mr. Gregson were ap- 
pointed commissioners, to meet others from Mas- 
sachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut, to consult 
for the common interest; and in consequence the 
four colonies formed a league offensive and defen- 
sive. At the subsequent meetings of the commis- 
sioners during the life of Gov. Eaton, it is believed, 
that he always appeared as one of the delegates of 
New Haven, and several times presided over the 
deliberations of this first American congress. 

It has been already stated, that it was the ori- 
ginal plan of Mr. Eaton and his company to build 
up here a commercial town. The colony was com- 
posed chiefly of persons, who had spent their lives 
in trade, and who were but poorly fitted for any 
other employment. The project of an establish- 
ment more strictly mercantile, than any which had 
been before begun, was not wholly visionary. The 
coast of America with its rivers and harbors, had, 
indeed, been but partially explored, and the resour- 
ces of the country for a profitable trade, must have 
been, in a great degree, a matter of conjecture; yet 
it was by no means irrational in the emigrants to 
infer, that, on their arrival in New England, a 
place could be found convenient in all respects, for 
their purposes. That the colony, which they suc- 
ceeded in planting, was at first unsuccessful as a 
trading community, we know; but with the limited 
knowledge which they possessed of the country, and 
the misfortunes to which they were subjected, they 
can hardly be charged with a want of vigor or 
prudent forecast. When they arrived at Boston, 
the Narragansett Bay and Connecticut river were 

8 



58 

in possession of earlier English colonists, or the 
Dutch ; and the Dutch had also formed a settle- 
ment at Manhadoes. It was a favorite object of 
Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport, and with the views 
entertained by them, not an unwise one, to begin a 
colony without the limits of any existing patent. 
Accordingly they fixed upon Quinnipiac. Their 
expectation was, to carry on a commerce with the 
other New England colonies and the Dutch; and 
by an establishment at the mouth of the Delaware 
river, to barter with the native inhabitants for bea- 
ver, in such articles as they should receive from Eu- 
rope. The scheme was plausible ; but the Dutch 
disputed with them the right to their land; the tra- 
ding house which they built at the Delaware, was 
destroyed by the Swedes ; and the ship, which they 
built, as a last resource, for a voyage to Europe, 
was lost at sea. The property of the principal in- 
habitants, in consequence of these disappointments 
and disasters, was greatly reduced, their plans of 
wealth were defeated ; some returned to Europe, 
and a proposition was made the colony by Cromwell, 
to remove to the Island of Jamaica, or to Ireland. 
But they had now formed an attachment to their 
new residence. The entire freedom from foreign 
control which was here enjoyed, would give, we 
may reasonably conjecture, to any project of re- 
moval, in the view of the planters, the appearance 
of doubtful expediency; while the loss of their 
wealth opposed a serious obstacle to any new en- 
terprise, which would necessarily involve very large 
expense. Their determination was to continue, 
where they were ; and in consequence they be- 



59 

came, instead of a commercial, chiefly, for a time, 
an agricultural community. Still they carried on 
a trade with the other towns on the coast, and with 
Barbadoes, and perhaps other islands in the West 
Indies. The West India trade was begun by the 
first planters, and has probably never been inter- 
rupted, except by war. As it was the earliest, so 
it has continued to be the latest, foreign commerce, 
in which the New Haven merchants have engaged.* 
The first colonists here suffered likewise from sick- 
ness, which seems to have been much aggravated 
at times by the want of competent physicians. But 
on this subject, little information can be obtained.f 
It ought not to be passed over in silence, that 
the first inhabitants manifested a desire to orna- 
ment their town, and to make it a pleasant resi- 
dence. Hubbard intimates, that they expended 
their property profusely for this object. His lan- 
guage is, "they laid out too much of their stocks 
and estates in building of fair and stately houses, 
wherein, they at the first out-did the rest of the 
country.''^ However this may be, there is no doubt, 
that New Haven from the first, has been noted for 
neatness and simple elegance; and for this, it is 
largely indebted to the taste and liberal expendi- 
tures of the original settlers. They set an exam- 
ple, which their descendants have worthily followed. 
Chalmers, who disliked the Americans, and took 
every opportunity to depreciate their merits, sums 
up the history of the New Haven colonists, in these 
words: "they for eight and twenty years enjoyed 

* Note O. t Note P. t 334. 



60 

the delights of independent insignificance;"* — as 
if dependent insignificance would have been any 
better. 

Before leaving the colonial history of New Ha- 
ven, it seems proper to take a somewhat nearer view 
of the character of the two principal leaders of the 
settlement, Eaton and Davenport. These two men, 
in the language of Mather, were "the Moses and 
Aaron" of this new settlement; and whatever there 
was of good or evil, of wisdom or folly, in laying the 
foundations of civilized society in this part of New 
England, must be ascribed in a great measure to 
them. Though the government, which was estab- 
lished, was extremely popular in its form, these men 
without doubt, were looked up to for devising and 
executing the most important measures. Their 
" company," as it was called, appear to have had 
entire confidence in their sound judgment, ability 
and integrity; and they did nothing to forfeit the 
good opinion of their followers. Their influence in 
all the concerns of the colony, especially in what 
respected the form of government, the means of ed- 
ucation, and the institutions of religion, must have 
been constant and commanding. Gov. Eaton, from 
his course of life before embarking in this underta- 
king, was prepared, in many important respects, to 
act in it with vigor and discretion. From his ar- 
rival to manhood, he had passed his time in active 
employments. His commercial transactions, which 
were conducted on no inferior scale, had brought 
him into connection with various classes of men, 



* 291. 



61 

and qualified him to manage extensive and compli- 
cated concerns. His residence in the north of Eu- 
rope, without doubt, contributed largely to fit him 
for the expedition in which he afterwards engaged. 
As the leading object of his coming to America 
was to enjoy unrestrained his own religious views, 
his union with Mr. Davenport in this enterprise, 
was well judged, and fortunate for them both. They 
had been intimate from early life, their religious 
opinions must have been substantially the same, 
and their general notions of government, and of 
the kind of institutions proper for an infant society, 
could not have been very dissimilar. Though the 
colony failed to become as important a commercial 
establishment, as was hoped, yet Gov. Eaton seems 
not to have lost, in any degree, the respect and con- 
fidence of the planters. He was chargeable with 
no fault, and was the subject of no blame. Though 
from his standing and property, he was one, to 
whom all others engaged in this project of coloni- 
zation, would look jfi- for advice and direction, yet 
there is no evidence, that he at any time manifested 
a disposition to elevate himself, or to exercise any 
authority which was not voluntarily conferred. 
Prudence and firmness were his most obvious char- 
acteristics; and so high an opinion was entertained 
in the colony of his sincerity and integrity, that his 
simple declaration was always received with impli- 
cit confidence. His estate must have been greatly 
diminished by his removal to America; and the 
loss of numerous enjoyments to which he had been 
accustomed, must have been severely felt ; yet, says 
Gov. Hopkins, " I have heard him say, that he 



62 

never had a repenting or repining thought about 
his removing to New England." " Surely," adds 
Gov. Hopkins, " in this matter he hath a grace far 
out-shining mine."* This feeling he seems to have 
cherished to the last; since, the evening before his 
death, on his wife's proposing to him to return to 
their native country, he replied emphatically, " I 
shall die here." The loss of Gov. Eaton was greatly 
lamented. From the length of time he had pre- 
sided over the colony, he had become identified 
with all its interests. 

John Davenport was a man of more native ar- 
dor than his associate, and possessed that fixedness 
of principle and firmness of resolve, which fitted 
him to encounter opposition, and to embark in dif- 
ficult and dangerous enterprises. The opinions of 
of the puritans he adopted in their full extent; and 
persecution, as usually happens in the case of men 
of ardent temperament, instead of breaking his 
spirit, forced him to the extremes of his system. 
He thought, that reformers \%re prone to linger, 
and even to halt, in their course ; and that after 
they had made a certain progress, their further 
improvement was hopeless. It was a saying of 
his, that as "easily might the ark have been re- 
moved from the mountains of Ararat, where it first 
grounded, as a people get any ground in reforma- 
tion, after and beyond the first remove of the re- 
formers.'^ He was roused, therefore, as we are 
told by Mather, " to embark in a design of refor- 
mation, wherein he might have opportunity to drive 

* Mather's Magnal. B. II. 24. t Mather's Magnal. B. III. 53. 



63 

things, in their first essay, as near to the precept 
and pattern of scripture, as they could be driven." 
With these views and feelings he came to New 
England. If a part of his plan of a commonwealth 
proved to be impracticable, a part has stood the se- 
vere trial of time ; and his success has been greater, 
than that of most theorists in government. 

I am aware, that there has been an impression 
among some in this community, that Mr. Daven- 
port was fond of power ; that he was overbearing 
and arbitrary, and exercised a kind of dictatorship 
in the colony. On what just foundation such an 
opinion rests, I have never been able to discover. 
That he had an extensive and commanding influ- 
ence in all the colonial transactions ; that he pos- 
sessed those qualities of mind, which fitted him to 
become a leader of others, and insensibly to mould 
them to his views, there can be no doubt ; but there 
is no evidence, that this ascendency was ever sought 
by him, or when possessed, was employed for un- 
worthy purposes. Whatever preeminence he at- 
tained, was voluntarily conceded to long tried and 
acknowledged intelligence, integrity and wisdom. 

If he had been influenced by a thirst for power, 
we might expect to find traces of it in the colony 
laws ; some valuable immunities of the clergy, some 
share granted them in the legislative or judicial de- 
partments of the government. But nothing of this 
character is to be found there. On the contrary, 
by the New Haven code, the clergy, so far from 
having any civil power, could not even perform the 
marriage ceremony ; this being placed exclusively 
in the hands of the magistrates. The church which 



64 

was formed under his advice and superintendence, 
was organized on principles strictly independent; 
a sort of spiritual democracy, in which, if there 
were any lords, they were " lords brethren." But 
what must place the question out of all doubt, 
whether Mr. Davenport assumed improper power 
in the colony, is the single fact, that when he was 
invited to Boston in 1668, his removal was univer- 
sally opposed by the people of the town. As he 
was determined to leave them, they appear to have 
silently acquiesced in the measure; but never to 
have given it their formal assent. This is not the 
mode, in which mankind act, when about to be re- 
lieved from even a moderately exercised tyranny. 
As to the estimation in which the other principal 
men of New Haven were held in New England, I 
can only refer to Hubbard, who in characterizing 
the colony, speaks of the "eminency of sundry per- 
sons, suited for civil offices, and capable to manage 
those of a much vaster territory, than this was, or 
was ever like to be." # 

In 1662, John Winthrop, Governor of Connec- 
ticut, obtained a charter for that colony from the 
king, Charles II., " as amply privileged a charter," 
says Mather, "as was ever enjoyed perhaps by 
any people, under the cope of heaven."t In this 
charter, the colony of New Haven was included. 
The people of this colony, generally, had no ex- 
pectation of such an event ; and when the news 
first arrived of their union with Connecticut, they 
were thrown into a violent ferment. Governor 

- 318. t B. I. 24. 



65 

Winthrop, however, would not have acted in so im- 
portant an affair without advice ; and according to 
Hubbard,* Gov. Lcete recommended the measure. 
But it must have been done secretly. After much 
opposition, New Haven finally yielded; and in 
1665, the union with Connecticut was formed. This 
connection proved highly salutary; and that New 
Haven was ever a separate jurisdiction, was soon 
forgotten, or remembered only as matter of history.t 
After the union, the separate history of New 
Haven, is not easy to be ascertained. In an an- 
swer to inquiries by the lords of the committee 
of colonies, by the government of Connecticut, in 
1680, forty two years after the planting of New 
Haven, it is stated, that the militia of the county 
of New Haven were six hundred and twenty three, 
being about a fourth of the colony. They say, that 
they have in the whole colony " about twenty petty 
merchants, some trade to Boston, some to the In- 
dies and other colonies." New Haven, from its 
situation, must have shared largely in this trade; 
though it appears from the report, that it was infe- 
rior to New London as a place of commerce. They 
make a very unfavorable representation of the coun- 
try. It is, they say, " mountainous, full of rocks, 
swamps, hills, and vales." " What land is fit, is 
taken up ; what remains, must be gained out of the 
fire by hard blows and small recompense." " The 
value of our annual imports probably amounts to 
£9000." " The property of the whole corporation 
doth not amount to £110,788 sterling." " Twenty 

* 311. t Note Q,. 



06 

four small vessels belong to the colony." In this 
account of their " poor colony,'" as they call it, they 
add, " there are no duties on goods exported or im- 
ported, except on wines and liquors; which though 
inconsiderable, are appropriated to maintain free 
schools."* 

In 1700, the first successful efforts were made 
for the founding of a college in Connecticut ; which 
in 1716 was established permanently in New Ha- 
ven. On its history, and on the character and ser- 
vices of the men who have been concerned in its 
government and instruction, I have no time to en- 
large. I omit also to notice the ecclesiastical con- 
cerns of the town, as full justice will be done this 
part of the subject by another. f 

In 1724, the number of dwelling houses in New 
Haven was about one hundred and sixty three; and 
the number of inhabitants may be estimated at that 
time at not far from one thousand. The first exact 
census of the town is believed to have been taken 
in 1787, when the population was found to be three 
thousand five hundred and forty, including one 
hundred and seventy six students of Yale College. 
The number of dwelling houses was four hundred 
and sixty six. 

The earliest account of the commerce of New 
Haven, which is definite in its details, is contained 
in a report from Col. Wooster to Gov. Trumbull in 
1774. " The trade of this part of the colony," says 
Col. Wooster, "is entirely to the West India islands; 
and the exports are horses, oxen, pork, beef, tallow, 

* Chalm. 310. t Rev. Leonard Bacon. 



67 

and lumber, and the imports West India produce. 
The shipping belonging to this port, are one hun- 
dred and eight vessels, consisting of brigantines, 
sloops and schooners, amounting to seven thousand, 
one hundred and seventy tons, carpenter's measure. 
The number of sea-faring men is seven hundred 
and fifty six."* 

In the revolutionary war, the town suffered se- 
verely ; its shipping was almost entirely destroyed, 
and its business greatly interrupted. For several 
years after the peace of 1783, New Haven had its 
full share of the evils of an inefficient general gov- 
ernment; and was relieved only by the successful 
operation of the federal constitution of the United 
States. The new government infused vigor into 
every department of society ; and from 1789 to the 
present time, with the exception of occasional re- 
verses, the town has advanced regularly in num- 
bers and wealth. 

In looking back upon those periods of the history 
of New England and of the United States, when 
any of the great interests of the country were es- 
pecially endangered, it is gratifying to see, — and it 
deserves at this time to be commemorated, — that 
New Haven has furnished men, who have worthily 
acted their part, and left bright examples for the 
imitation of posterity. No military expedition ever 
excited such efforts in New England, or was at- 
tended with such strong hopes mingled with well 
grounded fears, as that sent against Louisbourg in 
1745. On the capture of that fortress, the security 

* 2 Mass. Hist. Coll. 218.— Sec. Series. 



68 

of the country from French ascendency, and its 
consequent freedom, were justly supposed to de- 
pend. Of the several colonies invited to engage in 
this great enterprise, those of New England alone 
had the honor of achieving the conquest. The 
commander of the Connecticut sloop of war em- 
ployed in conveying the troops of this colony to the 
scene of action, was David Wooster, of New Ha- 
ven. By his skill and intrepidity, both on the pas- 
sage, and after his arrival, he acquired great rep- 
utation, and gave an earnest of his subsequent em- 
inence. In the northern campaign of 1755, and 
of several succeeding years, he distinguished him- 
self as a military commander ; and in the war of 
the revolution, he fell in battle, fighting for the lib- 
erties of his country. 

Nathan Whiting of New Haven, in the cam- 
paign of 1755, led a regiment enlisted in this town 
and vicinity, to the Canadian frontier. He was in 
the detachment sent from fort Edward, by Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, against Baron Dieskau. In the un- 
fortunate rencontre which followed, Col. Whiting, 
after the fall of Col. Williams his superior officer, 
took the command of the troops, now thrown into 
disorder ; and by his skill and intrepidity effected 
a most difficult and successful retreat. In the cam- 
paigns of several succeeding years, he was esteemed, 
both by the British and Americans, an officer of 
uncommon merit. In Connecticut he acquired 
great popularity ; and among other honorable 
marks of respect, he received the thanks of the le- 
gislature for his numerous and faithful services. 



69 

When the dispute between Great Britain and 
the colonies, was about coming to an open rupture, 
and the first continental congress assembled in Phil- 
adelphia, Roger Sherman, of New Haven, was de- 
puted by the legislature of Connecticut, to be a 
member of that body. Among other proofs of the 
estimation in which he was held by that assembly 
of statesmen and patriots, this may be mentioned, 
that he was appointed on the committee to prepare 
the celebrated declaration of independence. He 
was one of the convention, which formed the con- 
stitution of the United States ; was a member of the 
first house of representatives, and afterwards was 
elected to the senate ; and thus bore an important 
part in organizing the government. No man in 
Connecticut, ever enjoyed the confidence of the 
people of the state more entirely, or for a longer 
period, than Roger Sherman. Where he doubted, 
who ventured to be positive? where he saw his 
way clear, who hesitated to follow ? In the whole 
course of his public life, Roger Sherman never 
failed to leave in those with whom he had inter- 
course, an impression of deep sagacity, and stern in- 
tegrity ; and he bequeathed, as a public man, to 
those who should come after him, the character of 
a great, and what is much more rare, of an honest, 
politician. 

If we look likewise to the commercial and eco- 
nomical interests of our own, and of other countries, 
who stands higher as a public benefactor, than our 
late fellow citizen, Eli Whitney ? How large a part 
of the United States is indebted for all its prosper- 
ity, to his inventive genius ? The commerce, the 






70 

business of the world, has been essentially modified 
and increased through the operation of his princi- 
pal invention, the cotton-gin ; and the substantial 
convenience and enjoyment of mankind have, by 
the same means, been extended and are extending, 
to a degree, which no man can calculate. 

Another of our citizens, lately removed from us, 
and who by a long course of eminent public ser- 
vices, proved himself one of the benefactors of his 
age and country, deserves an honorable mention 
on the present occasion. You have, no doubt, all 
anticipated me in the name of James Hillhouse. 
Where have we seen more energy of action than in 
that man ? more public spirit, or a greater readi- 
ness on any emergency, to make personal sacri- 
fices ? To pass by his various praise-worthy efforts 
of a more public and general character; the name 
of James Hillhouse, in what he accomplished for 
the ornament, the convenience, and the solid pros- 
perity of our town, in all its departments, can never 
be separated from that of New Haven. 

Perhaps it will be said, on this general review of 
the history of our city for the last two centuries, 
that our predecessors, in many of their plans and 
endeavors, are indeed deserving of praise ; and that 
even the first colonists, in some respects, did well ; 
but that we could have done better. The faults of 
the puritans, some may say, we could certainly 
have avoided ; and their good deeds were so obvi- 
ously according to the dictates of common sense, 
so clearly expedient, proper and right, that the au- 
thors of them are scarcely entitled to much credit; 
and that, in fact, their most commendable proceed- 



71 

ings are so counterbalanced by tbose of a question- 
able character, or which plainly deserve censure, 
that we shall, upon the whole, treat them most equi- 
tably and kindly, by suffering them to pass silently 
into forgetful ness. 

It has been no part of my object, on this occa- 
sion, to hold up the first settlers of New Haven, and 
of New England, as spotless characters, and the 
proper subjects of indiscriminate commendation. 
The great outlines of their proceedings I have en- 
deavored to draw truly and distinctly, that you may 
yourselves judge of their deserts, rather than to 
forestall opinion by general and unqualified pane- 
gyric. The puritans of New England laid the 
foundations of free communities, free in a sense, 
which the world had never known, or even ima- 
gined to be possible. Can any one deny this ? or 
granting it, withhold the meed of applause ? They 
devised and executed a plan of universal education, 
suited to their circumstances, and essential to the 
support of their social, civil, and religious institu- 
tions. Is there here any room for doubt ? and if 
not, who can resist their claim to the gratitude of 
their posterity ? They, from the first, both by pre- 
cept and example, taught their descendants to be 
jealous of their rights, to guard their privileges 
with ever wakeful solicitude, and to maintain 
those principles in religion, government and mor- 
als, which form the only sure foundation of public 
prosperity. On what page of their history, do we 
find reason to question this ? And if allowed, who 
will assert, that the memory of such men should be 
suffered to pass into oblivion ? or be retained only 



72 

with cold indifference ? Admit that they were too 
exclusive in their religion, that they were believers 
in witchcraft, and that their laws, were in some 
cases too severe and even sanguinary ; it is still 
true, that they were in advance of their age ; and, if 
their conduct is brought to the standard of their 
own time, that they must be acquitted. It will be 
urged, perhaps, that they were fanatics. But when, 
or where, did their fanaticism show itself? Do we 
ever find them relying on dreams, or immediate rev- 
elations ? or appealing to an internal light, which 
afforded no external indications of wisdom ? Of all 
men, they were the most remote from such vagaries. 
But orant, that we could now do better than our 
pilgrim fathers, — and with their conduct for our 
guide, we ought certainly to do as well, — we have 
full opportunity still to show our ability and our 
benevolence, in providing for the good of those 
who shall come after us. Our country is yet in its 
infancy. America is still emphatically the new 
world. The present population of these United 
States is very inconsiderable, compared with that 
towards which it is rapidly approaching. Those, 
who one hundred years from this day, shall assem- 
ble here, for the same purpose for which we have 
come together, will find in what is now the terri- 
tory of this Union, more than two hundred mil- 
lions of inhabitants. They will look upon our pres- 
ent number, as we look upon the early colonists, as 
the mere germ of a future nation. What, I would 
ask, is to be the condition of our country, when 
every hill and valley, from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific, shall be covered with a dense population? 



73 

What new and clashing interests will exist ? What 
new causes of harmony, union and peace? or of 
jealousy, discord and war ? Who, in these respects, 
can predict the future fortunes of our country ? 
Who can descry with distinctness, the condition of 
even the next generation ? The elements of that 
political, commercial, physical and moral influence, 
which is operating so widely and powerfully for 
weal or woe, are too numerous and complicated to 
admit of being easily or satisfactorily combined, in 
calculating our national progress and destiny. We 
sometimes wonder, that the early emigrants to 
New England, appear to have conceived so imper- 
fectly of the magnitude of the work, which they had 
begun ; and that the future, to so great a degree, 
was veiled from their eyes. Perhaps, notwithstand- 
ing our greater proneness to speculate on the causes 
of national changes, and our efforts to scrutinize 
the designs of providence, we are groping in still 
thicker darkness ; and the events of the two next 
centuries may be far more remote from our ken, 
than were those of the two last centuries from the 
view of our fathers. 

But far from this occasion be all anticipations of 
evil. Our country has hitherto risen above dis- 
aster ; and when most exposed to hazard, and ap- 
parently on the verge of ruin, it has seemed to defy 
danger, and triumph in success. We all have it in 
our power to contribute to its prosperity in times 
long after us. Never was a wider field open for 
human effort, in laying a broad and firm foundation 
for an immense civil and moral superstructure. 
Let all, who would improve on the system of our 

10 



74 

ancestors, enter on their work. In the meantime, 
those who prefer the old paths, may continue to 
favor universal education; to diffuse among all 
classes of the community a knowledge of their 
rights and privileges, and cherish a disposition to 
defend them; to strengthen the feeling of obliga- 
tion in all to perform their duties to God and man; 
and then leave the event to Him, who sees the end 
from the beginning, and who orders all things 
right. 



NOTES. 



Note A. 

Dr. Trumbull states incorrectly, that Gov. Eaton " was educated 
an East India merchant, and was sometime deputy governor of the 
company trading to the East Indies."* The true reason without 
doubt, of his mistake, has been pointed out by Mr. Savage, in his 
very valuable edition of Gov. Winthrop's Journal. He says, this 
" error arose probably from the appellation of East country, used 
by Mather, from the universal custom of England, for the regions 
bordering on the Baltic"! This editor is less successful in an at- 
tempt, on the same page, to correct what he supposes to be a mis- 
take of Dr. Trumbull respecting the Rev. Samuel Eaton, brother of 
the Governor. Gov. Winthrop has recorded, that " another min- 
ister" besides Mr. Davenport, came to New Eugland with Mr. Ea- 
ton and Mr. Hopkins. This other minister, according to Dr. Trum- 
bull, was the Rev. Samuel Eaton. On this Mr. Savage remarks: 
" The author [Dr. Trumbull] might have read in Mather, that Sam- 
uel Eaton died 9th January, 1665, at Denton in Lancashire." But 
there is no inconsistency in the fact, that Samuel Eaton died in Eng- 
land in 1665, and the fact, that he came to America in 1637. In- 
deed, Mather mentions his residence in this country. £ The Rev. 
Samuel Eaton signed the New Haven " fundamental agreement ;" 
and Gov. Eaton, in his will, refers to his " brother, Mr. Samuel Ea- 
ton, while he was resident in New England." 

A few additional notices of Gov. Eaton, and his family, may not 
be out of place here. Gov. Eaton was twice married. His second 
wife was the widow of David Yale, Esq. and daughter of Dr. Thomas 
Morton, bishop of Chester. At the time of this marriage, Mrs. Ea- 
ton had three children, David Yale, Thomas Yale, and Ann Yale ; 
to whom, says Mather, Mr. Eaton " became a most exemplary, liv- 

* Hist, of Connect. Vol. I. Chap. xi. t Vol. I. 228. 

% Magnal. Book III. 213. 



76 

ing, [loving] and faithful father."* Edward Hopkins married Ann, 
and the three children came to New England with their mother. On 
the death of Gov. Eaton, his widow returned to England ; and her two 
sons David and Thomas Yale, and her daughter, Hannah Eaton, 
returned with her. Gov. Hopkins and his wife had gone to Eng- 
land some time before. Elihu Yale, afterwards Governor of fort St. 
George in the East Indies, and Governor of the East India company, 
and from whom Yale College has its name, was about ten years old, 
when, with his father Thomas Yale, he left New Haven. A second 
Thomas Yale, most probably a son of the first Thomas Yale, re- 
mained in New Haven, where he died in 1683. From him, those 
of the name of Yale in New Haven and in other parts of the coun- 
try, are supposed to be descended. 

Gov. Eaton, in his will, names three children only ; all without 
doubt, who were then living.t These three were Theophilus, Mary, 
and Hannah. Theophilus, a son by his first marriage, came to 
New England, but returned, and lived in Dublin. Mary was mar- 
ried to Valentine Hill, and removed to Piscataqua in New Hamp- 
shire. Hannah went to England, as above stated. Ann Eaton, 
widow of Gov. Eaton, died in London, 1659. Her daughter, Han- 
nah Eaton, married William Jones, Esq. an English lawyer; and 
with her husband came to New Haven in 1660, where they occu- 
pied the former residence of Gov. Eaton. They sailed from Eng- 
land in the same ship with the regicides, Col Whalley and Col. 
Goffe ; which circumstance probably had some influence in bringing 
the regicides to New Haven. Mr. Jones was chosen a magistrate 
in New Haven, in 1662, and Lieutenant Governor in 1664. He 
was afterwards Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut ; and acquired 
great respectability and influence, both in the town and colony. 

* Magnal. Book II. 27. 

t Of Gov. Eaton's children, who died before him, his son Samuel was the 
most distinguished. He was born in London, 1620, and was graduated at 
Harvard College in 1649. In April, 1654, the people of New Haven were 
thrown into great agitation on hearing " that Mr. Samuel Eaton, son of our 
governor, is now sent for into the Bay, which if attended to, they feared 
they may be deprived, not only for the present, but for the future, of tbe 
helpfulness which they have hoped for from him ; and considering the small 
number of first able helps here for the work of magistracy for the present, 
who also by age are wearing away," they offered him the place of magis- 
trate ; and to this station he was elected in May of the same year. He and 
his wife, died within two days of each other, June, 1655. 



77 

Governor Eaton died in New Haven, January 7th, 1G58,* in the 
C7th year of his age. At the first General Court after his death, 
May 26th, 1658, it was voted to erect a monument to his memory. 
The record is in the following words. " This court calling to mind 
the good service done to this colony hy our late Honorable Gover- 
nor, did order, that a comely tomb, such as we are capable of, shall 
be made over his grave." The monument was a sandstone table, 
on which was this inscription : — 

" Theophilus Eaton, Esq. Gov. 
Deceased Jan. 7th, 1657. [8] 

Eaton so fam'd, so wise, so meek, so just, 
The Phoenix of our world, here hides his dust, 
This name forget New England never must." 

Gov. Jones died in New Haven, 17th October, 1706, aged 82, 
and Hannah Jones, 1st May, 1707, aged 74. They were buried, 
one on the right, and the other on the left, of Gov. Eaton ; and to the 
former inscription, the following was added : — 

" T' attend you, Sir, under these framed stones, 
Are come your honor'd son and daughter Jones, 
On each hand to repose their wearied bones." 

This notable triplet, as Dr. Dwight once told me, was the produc- 
tion of the Rev. James Pierpont. The lines on Gov. Eaton must 
have come under the inspection of Mr. Davenport ; but whether he 
was the author of them, can be conjectured only. The stone has 
been removed to the new burying ground, and the old inscriptions 
erased, to the regret of the lovers of genuine antiquity. The inscrip- 
tion on Gov. Eaton has been re-engraved. The descendants of Gov. 
Jones are numerous. 

Note B. 

It is recorded in Gov. Winthrop's Journal, that on the 30th of 
March, 1638, the colony for Quinnipiac left Boston. This date is 
given without any qualification ; and no reason appears for question- 
ing its correctness. Dr. Trumbull, in his history of Connecticut, 

* According to the old mode of dating, this was in 1657, and Dr. Trumbull 
has so stated it ; probably taking the year from the inscription on the monu- 
ment. The time of his death is plain from the records. He held several 
courts in 1657 ; the last, in October of that year. 



78 

says, that " on the 30th of March, 1G38, Mr. Davenport, Mr. Prudden, 
Mr. Samuel Eaton, and Theophilus Eaton, Esq., with the people of 
their company, sailed from Boston for Quinnipiac. In about a fort- 
night, they arrived at their desired port. On the 18th of April, they 
kept their first sabbath in the place. The people assembled under 
a large spreading oak, and Mr. Davenport preached to them from 
Matthew vi. 1. He insisted on the temptations of the wilderness, 
made such observations, and gave such directions and exhortations 
as were pertinent to the then present state of his hearers. He left 
this remark, that he " enjoyed a good day."* 

On what authority Dr. Trumbull gave this account, except as to 
the day when the expedition left Boston, does not appear. The day 
of sailing may have been taken from Winthrop. But there is noth- 
ing in the colony records, Winthrop's Journal, Morton's Memorial, 
Hubbard's History of New England, or any similar work which I 
have examined, respecting the duration of the voyage, or the time of 
the arrival of the colonists at their place of destination. That Dr. 
Trumbull relied in this part of his narrative on some written docu- 
ment, may be inferred from its particularity, as it is too minute in 
its statements for mere tradition, and from what he says of Mr. Dav- 
enport, that " he left the remark, that he enjoyed a good day." The 
words " he left the remark," indicate that it was in some diary, or 
memorandum. Dr. Trumbull collected most of the materials for the 
first volume of his history, as early as 1774, and was much aided in 
his undertaking by the first Gov. Trumbull, who possessed numerous 
documents to illustrate the early history of Connecticut. There is 
no improbability, therefore, in the supposition, that Dr. Trumbull 
had means of exact information on this subject, which are now un- 
known. He says likewise, in the preface to his history, " that very 
little has been taken on tradition ;" and wherever he relates any 
thing on the ground of tradition, he appears careful to state the fact. 
But on whatever authority Dr. Trumbull relied, it cannot be true, 
that the colonists, as he says, " kept their first sabbath," in Quin- 
nipiac on the 18th of April ; as the 18th of April, 1G38, was Wednes- 
day. If they were about a fortnight on the voyage, this "first sab- 
bath" must have been either the 15th or the 22d day of the month. 
If a memorandum of the day was made at the time, as is not improb- 
able, in transcribing, 15 might easily be mistaken for 18, much more 

* Hist, of Connect. Vol. I. Chap. vi. 



79 

easily than 22 would be mistaken for this number ; and the same is 
true, if the information came down by tradition. Another solution 
of this difficulty is, and perhaps as probable as any, that 18 is a typo- 
graphical error for 15. But that the 15th was really the day, is 
pretty plainly indicated by the language, that the colonists were 
"about a fortnight" on their voyage. The 30th of March, 1638, 
was Friday; a fortnight from this time was the 13th of April. If 
the expedition arrived on the 12th, 13th, or 14th of the month, the 
phrase " about a fortnight," as commonly used, would be very natu- 
rally employed to designate the time. If the arrival was so late as 
the next week, in marking the time, instead of " about a fortnight," 
it would rather be said, that they were more than a fortnight, or 
nearly three weeks, on their passage. These considerations do not 
lead to an infallible conclusion, but the balance of probabilities 
clearly inclines to the 15th of April, 1638, as the " first sabbath" 
kept in this town by the original settlers. As it appears about 
equally probable, that the colony arrived on the 12th, 13th, or 14th 
of the month, it was impossible to select the day of arrival, as the 
time to celebrate the planting of the colony. The assembling on 
the 15th, it was thought might be taken without much chance of 
error, as the first act of the whole body of the colonists, and the time, 
in which European civilization commenced in Quinnipiac. 

As ten days are allowed for the difference of style in the seven- 
teenth century, the 15th of April, 1638, corresponds to the 25th of 
the same month, according to our present mode of reckoning. 

There is a common error in changing dates of the seventeenth 
century to the mode of reckoning now in use. Thus, in fixing the 
day, in some places, for celebrating the second centennial anniver- 
sary, eleven days, and in other places, twelve days have been added 
to the old date. No one, who will look at the reason of the thing, 
can doubt, that ten days is the real difference. The ground of this 
conclusion, may be exhibited in the following popular manner. The 
year of the seasons may be taken at 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 
50 seconds. This multiplied by 200, gives 73048 days, leaving out 
the fraction of a day. From the 15th of April, 1638, to the 15th 
of April, 1838, 200 years of 365 days, 6 hours have been reckoned; 
that is, 73050, except, that in 1752, when the style was altered, 
eleven days were omitted ; and in 1800 one day was omitted, ac- 
cording to the rule now observed. The actual time, therefore, al- 
lowed from April 15th, 1638, to April 15th, 1838, is 73038 days. 



80 

Bat this is ten days less than 200 years, as appears above. Adding, 
therefore, ten days to the 15th of April, 1838, the day of the close of 
the two hundredth year from the loth of April, old style, 1638, is 
obtained. 

As the year of the seasons is less, than the common civil year, or 
365 days, 6 hours, it is obvious, that the farther we go back, the 
less difference there will be in the two modes of computing time ; 
till we arrive at the time of the Council of Nice, when the two 
modes will coincide, or no addition will be required to be made to 
old style. Or, if the present rule of regulating the calendar had been 
adopted at the time of the Council of Nice, what was called the 
15th of April, 1638, would have been the 25th of the same month 
and year. 

There appears to be another error in the extract above from Dr. 
Trumbull, which is probably typographical ; and which may not im- 
properly be noticed here. l?e says that Mr. Davenport preached 
from Matthew vi. 1, and " insisted on the temptations of the wilder- 
ness." The verse referred to is, " Take heed, that you do not your 
alms before men, to be seen of them ; otherwise ye have no reward 
of your father, which is in heaven." But how this should lead to a 
discourse on the temptations of the wilderness, is not obvious. The 
probability is, that instead of vi. we should read iv. ; and Matt. iv. 1, 
is, " Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be 
tempted of the devil." The object of the preacher might be to show, 
that though his hearers were in the wilderness of America, tempta- 
tions still beset them. Others say, that the text of Mr. Davenport 
was Matt. iii. 1, which is, "In those days came John the Baptist, 
preaching in the wilderness of Judea." We have here, indeed, a 
wilderness, but there is no distinct reference to temptation. 



Note C. 

The only authority, which, it is believed, can be found, on which 
a charge of injustice towards the Indians in the New Haven colony, 
can be founded, is " The General History of Connecticut," by Dr. 
Samuel Peters. This author says— "Exact in tything mint and 
anise, the furies of New Haven for once affected the weightier mat- 
ters of justice. They had no title to the land : they applied to Quin- 
nipiog, the sachem, for a deed or grant of it. The sachem refused 
to give the lands of his ancestors to strangers. The settlers had 



81 

teeming inventions, and immediately voted themselves to be the 
children of God, and that the wilderness in the utmost parts of the 
earth, was given to them. This vote became a law forever after. It 
is true, Davenport endeavored to christianize Quinnipiog, but in 
vain : however, he converted Sunksquaw, one of his subjects, by pres- 
ents and great promises; and then Sunksquaw betrayed his mas- 
ter, and the settlers killed him. This assassination of Quinnipiog 
brought on a war between the English and Indians, which never 
ended by treaty of peace. The Indians, having only bows and ar- 
rows, were driven back into the woods ; whilst the English with 
their swords and guns, kept possession of the country. But con- 
scious of their want of title to it, they voted Sunksquaw to be Sachem, 
and that whoever disputed his authority should suffer death. Sunk- 
squaw, in return, assigned to the English those lands, of which they 
had made him Sachem. Lo ! here is all the title the settlers of the 
Dominion of New Haven, ever obtained."* The only apology for 
quoting this passage, and others like it, from such an author, is, that 
his representations seem to have gained, in some instances, a partial 
credit. But the story here told is an entire fabrication ; there being 
no foundation whatever for it in fact. The Indian deed to the Eng- 
lish, of the territory of duinnipiac, is on record ; and the convey- 
ance was made by eight Sachems, one of whom was a female. No 
mention is made in the records, or in any other writings, before this 
History by Peters was published, of any such Sachem as Quinnipiog, 
or Sunksquaw, or of any contest with the Indians. All the records, 
traditions, and the accounts published in the other colonies, which 
have any relation to the transactions of the first settlers of New Ha- 
ven with the natives, are irreconcilable with this story. It is the 
sheer production of malice and resentment, and made up in utter 
disregard of truth. The same author says, that Mr. Davenport and 
others set up a " heavenly title" to the lands of the Indians; and 
thus " syllogistically stated it" — " The Heathen are driven out, and 
we have their lands in possession ; they were numerous, and we but a 
few ; therefore the Lord hath done this great work, to give his be- 
loved rcst."t This again has not the slightest support from fact. 
That Mr. Davenport, and the other early puritan ministers in Con- 
necticut and New Haven, considered the Indians the rightful owners 
of the soil, and maintained that lands should be bought of them by 

* 65. t 4G. 

11 



82 

fair purchase, is proved by all the evidence which the case admits of, 
or requires. Peters likewise makes Mr. Davenport's "tyrannical 
conduct"* one of the causes of the war with the Pequods, and the 
destruction of Sassacus. The Pequod war, however, was nearly 
terminated, before Mr. Davenport arrived in America; and ended 
the summer before he came to Quinnipiac. All the other represen- 
tations, by the same writer, respecting the treatment of the Indians 
by the English, are equally destitute of truth. Another statement of 
Peters, connected in some measure with the foregoing, is the follow- 
ing. " The first colonizers of Connecticut — by their iniquitous art 
of making Sachems, have entailed law-suits without end on their pos- 
terity ; for there is not one foot of land in the whole province, which 
is not covered by ten deeds granted by ten different nominal Sachems 
to ten different persons; and what aggravates the misfortune, the 
courts of justice differ every session concerning the true Sachem ; so 
that what the plaintiff recovers at a hearing before one jury, he loses 
upon a re-hearing before another."! 

Perhaps, if the whole Union were examined for this purpose, no 
state would be found where so little litigation has existed respecting 
original land-titles, as in Connecticut. No individual could purchase 
land of the Indians without permission of the magistrates. Deeds 
also were always recorded in public offices, where they were open to 
the inspection of every one. No such fraudulent conveyances as de- 
scribed above, could have existed. This whole representation is a 
fiction of the historian. J 

Note D. 

In the harbor of New Haven, great alterations have been produ- 
ced by the accumulation of earth in the inlets, chiefly by the action 
of the small streams. The low grounds at the southwest of George 
street, two hundred years ago, were covered so deep with water, that 
such vessels as were used for transporting the colony, lay there with- 
out difficulty ; and even within eighty years, where the canal now 
passes towards the harbor, large sail-boats came with ease, as high 
as Chapel street. But these obstructions to a ready access from 

* 55. i 43. 

t The quotations from this author are made from the edition of his History, 
published in New Haven in 1829. For the general character of the work, 
see Note G. 



83 

the town to navigable water, which have been gradually formed, 
though to be regretted, have yet left the actual site of the town the 
most eligible, which could be chosen on the shores of the New Ha- 
ven bay. 

Note E. 

Reference is here made to a treatise by Mr. Davenport, entitled, 
" A discourse about civil government in a new plantation, whose de- 
sign is religion," — " in the title page whereof," says Mather,* " the 
name of Mr. Cotton, is, by mistake, put for that of Mr. Davenport." 
The copy of this curious and valuable pamphlet, which I have had 
the opportunity of consulting, belongs to the library of the Massachu- 
setts Historical Society, Boston. 

Note F. 

The names of the seven men, who haye been usually called the 
" seven pillars," are placed in the colony records in the following 
order : " Mr. Theophilus Eaton, Mr. John Davenport, Mr. Robert 
Newman, Mr. Matthew Gilbert, Thomas Fugill, John Punderson 
and Jeremy Dixon." 

Note G. 

The work, which more than any other, has given currency to va- 
rious misrepresentations respecting the New Haven colony, is that 
commonly known as " Peters's History of Connecticut." The au- 
thor, Dr. Samuel Peters, at the commencement of the revolutionary 
war, was an episcopal missionary at Hebron in Connecticut. As he 
was very active in asserting the royal claims, he became obnoxious 
to the patriots of the day. He was threatened by a mob ; though 
it is believed, no personal violence was done him. About 1774 he 
went to England, highly exasperated against his country, and espe- 
cially against his native state, Connecticut. He employed himself, 
while the war continued, in reviling the colonists; and in 1781 pub- 
lished in London without his name, what he called " A general His- 
tory of Connecticut, from its first settlement under George Fenwick, 
Esq., to its latest period of amity with Great Britain; including a 



Book III. 56. 



84 

description of the country, and many curious and interesting anoc- 
dotes." When this work first appeared, its extravagances and false- 
hoods were so apparent and gross, that any attempt to contradict or 
expose them, was considered unnecessary and superfluous. The 
work was evidently designed chiefly, to render the people of Con- 
necticut odious and despicable abroad ; — but its abuse was so outrage- 
ous, and its statements so opposed to the most notorious facts,* that 
even with respect to foreigners, it was thought to need no refutation. 
There were, however, in Connecticut, at the time this pretended 
History appeared, individuals who sympathized strongly with its au- 
thor. They had cherished the same antipathies and resentments as 
Peters himself; and as the English interest declined in the United 
States, they were glad to seize even upon such support, as this mis- 
erable farrago afforded them. Its stories were to their taste ; and 
they repeated them so often, as apparently to create in themselves a 
sort of belief in the truth of some of them. The credit, however, 
acquired by this work was never extensive ; and its real" character 
has been generally too well understood to call for direct animadver- 
sion. Dr. Trumbull once told me, in reply to the question, why in 
his History of Connecticut, he had made no allusion to this work of 
Dr. Peters, — that he had considered a reference to it as wholly unne- 
cessary ; since any one, on very slight examination, would see that it 
was refuted in so many of its statements by indubitable public doc- 
uments, that it could gain no credit. He said, that he had been well 
acquainted with Dr. Peters from very early life,* that they were con- 
temporary in college,! and that an occasional intercourse between 
them had been maintained, till Dr. Peters went to England in 1774. 
He added, that of all men, with whom he had ever been acquainted, 
Dr. Peters, he had thought, from his first knowledge of him, the least 
to be depended upon as to any matter of fact ; especially " in story-tell- 
ing." A more particular notice of this " History of Connecticut" 
might perhaps be omitted here ; but it has been thought best to point 
out a few of its errors; as by the progress of time, the real charac- 
ter of the work is now less perfectly understood, than when it was 
first published. 

The account which the author gives of the first settlement of Con- 
necticut, is filled with mistakes. He says, that " in 1634, the first 



* I think he stated that they were both natives of Hebron. 

t Dr. Peters graduated at Yale College in 1757, Dr. Trumbull in 175!). 



85 

part of English adventurers arrived in Connecticut from England, 
under the conduct of George Fenwick, Esq., and the Rev. Thomas 
Peters, and established themselves at the mouth of the river Connec- 
ticut ; where they built a town which they called Saybrook, a church 
and a fort."* The fort at Saybrook, however, was begun near the 
close of the year 1635, under the direction of John Winthrop, Esq. 
George Fenwick first arrived in America in 1G39, and the Rev. 
Thomas Peters with him. Peters staid but about three years in the 
country, and much of this time he spent at Pequod, or New London. 
It is related likewise in this history, that " Thomas Peters establish- 
ed a school in Saybrook, which his children had the satisfaction to 
see become a college, denominated Yale College." — " At his death, 
which did not happen till after the restoration of -Charles II, he be- 
queathed his library to the school above mentioned. "t There is not 
the slightest evidence, that there was any early school in Saybrook, 
higher than a common school ; or any school whatever, to which 
the Rev. Thomas Peters left a library. As to Yale College, it was 
founded and incorporated without any reference to Saybrook ; and 
it owed its origin in no sense, to any school before existing there, 
or any where else. This story was probably told to give in England 
the credit of beginning the college to one of the name of Peters. 
This same author says, that Connecticut on the arrival of the Eng- 
lish, had " three kings, viz. Connecticote, Quinnipiog and Sassa- 
cus, of whom Connecticote was Emperor, or king of kings."J It 
has been stated above in Note C, that no such Sachem as Quinni- 
piog ever existed. As little evidence is there, that there ever was 
any such " king of kings" as Connecticote. Peters adds, — " The 
religious institutions of Hooker at Hartford, .... extended to the 
great Connecticote himself. The Sachem did not like his new neigh- 
bors ; he refused to give or sell any land to them ; but told them, that 
as they came to trade, and to spread the christian religion among his 
subjects, which Mr. Hooker defined to consist only in peace, love and 
justice, he had no objection to their building wigwams, planting corn, 
and hunting on his lands. The wisdom and steady temper of this great 
Sachem, and the vast number of subjects at his command, made 
Haynes and Hooker cautious in their conduct." " Having converted 
over to the christian faith some kw Indians, among whom was 
Joshua, an ambitious captain under the great Sachem Connecticote, 

* 31. t 57. ! 45. 



86 

Hooker, Huet, Smith and others, hereby found means to spread the 
gospel into every Indian town, and, to the eternal infamy of chris- 
tian policy, those renowned, pious fathers of this new colony, with 
the gospel, spread the small pox. This distemper raged in every cor- 
ner ; it swept away the great Sachem Connecticote, and laid waste 
his ancient kingdom. Hereupon, Haynes and his assembly pro- 
claimed Joshua, Sachem; and such as did not acknowledge his 
Sachemic power, were compelled to suffer death, or fly the dominion. 
Thus in three years time, by the gospel and fanatic policy, was de- 
stroyed Connecticote, and laid waste his ancient kingdom."* All 
this is gross and palpable falsehood. There is no evidence, from any 
record or history preceding this work of Peters, that any part of this 
story is true. On the contrary, all existing records and early histo- 
ries of the transactions of Gov. Haynes and Mr. Hooker with the 
Indians, are wholly inconsistent with this representation. 

An author who could coolly fabricate such slander, has no claim 
to be believed in any statements, on any subject. A farther notice 
of the work, therefore, might be dispensed with ; but a reference to 
a few more passages will satisfy, it is believed, the most incredulous, 
that no injustice has been done Dr. Peters, in what has now been 
said of his history. His description of the country, and anecdotes 
of towns and individuals, are as extravagant as they are absurd and 
silly. Thus, in his account of Connecticut river, he says, that about 
two hundred miles from the Sound, the water passes through a 
chasm, formed by "two shelving mountains of solid rock," and "is 
consolidated, without frost, by pressure, by swiftness, between the 
pinching sturdy rocks, to such a degree of induration, that an iron 
crow floats smoothly down its current; here iron, lead, and cork, 
have one common weight : here, steady as time, and harder than 
marble, the stream passes irresistible, if not swift as lightning: — the 
electric fire rends trees in pieces with no greater ease, than does 
this mighty water."! Yet on this water, " harder than marble," a 
squaw, he informs his readers, passed through this chasm, in a ca- 
noe. The author describes a pond in the town of Windham, as 
" three miles square ;" which, in fact, is about half a mile in length, 
and varying in breadth, from ten to fifty or sixty rods. New Haven, 
he says, is built on a plain, which is "divided into three hundred 
squares, of the size of Bloomsbury-square, with streets twenty yards 

* 59. t 110. 



87 

wide between each division. Forty of these squares are already 
built upon, having houses of brick and stone on each front, above 
five yards asunder: every house with a garden, that produces vege- 
tables sufficient for the family. Two hundred houses are annually 
erected."* New Haven, at the time this was written, had probably 
not more than four hundred and twenty houses, ten or twelve of 
which may have been of brick or stone. 

One great object of this history is, to detail the sufferings of the 
episcopal missionaries, which, as the author represents, they endured 
for their loyalty. One story of this kind is the following. 

"In July, 1776, the congress having declared the independency 
of America, and ordered the commonwealth to be prayed for, in- 
stead of the king and royal family, all the loyal episcopal churches 
north of the Delaware, were shut up; except those immediately un- 
der the protection of the British army, and one at Newtown in Con- 
necticut, of which last the Rev. Mr. John Beach was the Rector ; 
whose gray hairs adorned with loyal and christian virtues, overcame 
even the madness of the Sober Dissenters. This faithful disciple 
disregarded the congressional mandate, and praying for the king as 
usual, they pulled him out of his desk, put a rope about his neck, 
and drew him across Osootonoc river, at the tail of a boat, to cool his 
loyal zeal, as they called it; after which the old Confessor was per- 
mitted to depart, though not without a prohibition to pray longer for 
the king. But his loyal zeal was insuperable. He went to church, 
and prayed again for the king ; upon which the Sober Dissenters 
again seized him, and resolved upon cutting out his tongue; when 
the heroic veteran said, if my blood must be shed, let it not be done 
in the house of God. The pious mob then dragged him out of the 
church, laid his neck on a block, and swore they would cut off his 
head," &c.t This whole story is without any foundation in truth. 
No such treatment of Mr. Beach ever occurred. The episcopal cler- 
gy in Connecticut, in the revolution, were believed to be honest in 
their loyalty ; and where they took no active part in resisting the 
popular measures, they were not molested. If such men as Mr. 
Beach, Dr. Mansfield, Mr. Learning, and others mentioned by Pe- 
ters, had suffered abuse, the most zealous patriots would have acted 
in their defense. 

There is one more story, which, from its relation to New Haven, 
may be thought to merit some attention. It is this. "An English 

* 147. t 300. 



88 

gentleman," says Peters, "of the name of Grigson, coming in his 
travels to New Haven, about the year 1644, was greatly pleased with 
its pleasant situation ; and after purchasing a large settlement, sent 
to London for his wife and family. But before their arrival, he found 
that a charming situation, without the blessing of civil and religious 
liberty, would not render him and his family happy : he resolved, 
therefore, to quit the country, and return to England, as soon as his 
family should arrive, and accordingly advertised his property for sale ; 
when lo ! agreeable to one of the Blue Laws, no one would buy, be- 
cause he had not, and could not, obtain liberty of the select-men to 
sell it. The patriotic virtue of the select-men thus becoming an in- 
surmountable bar to the sale of his New Haven estate, Mr. Grigson 
made his will, and bequeathed part of his lands towards the support 
of an episcopal clergyman, who should reside in that town, and the 
residue to his own heirs. Having deposited his will in the hands of 
a friend, he set sail with his family for England, but died on the pas- 
sage. This friend proved the will, and had it recorded, but died also 
soon after. The record was dexterously concealed by glueing two 
leaves together ; and, after some years, the select-men sold the whole 
estate to pay taxes ; though the rent of Mr. Grigson's house alone, in 
one year, would pay the taxes for ten. Some persons, hardy enough 
to exclaim against this glaring injustice, were soon silenced, and ex- 
pelled the town. In 1750, an episcopal clergyman was settled in 
New Haven ; and having been informed of Grigson's will, applied to 
the town clerk for a copy, who told him, there was no such will on 
record, and withal refused him the liberty of searching. In 1768, 
Peter Harrison, Esq. from Nottinghamshire, in England, the King's 
collector of New Haven, claimed his right of searching public rec- 
ords ; and being a stranger, and not supposed to have any knowledge 
of Grigson's will, obtained his demand. The alphabet contained 
Grigson's name, and referred to a page, which was not to be found 
in the book. Mr. Harrison supposed it to have been torn out; but, 
on closer examination, discovered one leaf much thicker than the 
others. He put a corner of the thick leaf in his mouth, and soon 
found it was composed of two leaves, which with much difficulty 
having separated, he found Grigson's will ! To make sure of the 
work, he took a copy of it himself, and then called the clerk to 
draw and attest another, which was done. Thus furnished, Mr. 
Harrison instantly applied to the select-men, and demanded a sur- 
render of the land, which belonged to the church, but which they as 



89 

promptly refused ; whereupon Mr. Harrison took out writs of eject- 
ment against the possessors. As might be expected, Mr. Harrison, 
from a good man, became in ten days the worst man in the world; 
but, being a generous and brave Englishman, he valued not their 
clamors and curses, though they terrified the gentlemen of the law. 
Harrison was obliged to be his own lawyer, and boldly declared he 
expected to lose his cause in New England ; but after that, he would 
appeal, and try it at his own expense in England, where justice 
reigned. The good people, knowing Harrison did not get his bread 
by their votes, and that they could not baffle him, resigned the lands 
to the church, on that gentleman's own terms."* 

Now for the facts. Thomas Gregson was one of the company of 
Mr. Eaton and Mr. Davenport, and came with them to America in 
1037. He was among the first planters in New Haven in 1633, was 
very early elected a magistrate ; and what shows the estimation in 
which he was held, he was appointed to act with Gov. Eaton as a 
commissioner in 1643, in forming a union of the New England col- 
onies. In January, 1647, Mr. Gregson sailed for England; not 
leaving New Haven in disgust, but with a commission to procure a 
charter for the colony, if possible, and " from the parliament." That 
such a man, who was one of the leading puritans in New England, 
should have left behind him a will, by which part of his property was 
to be applied, in the manner stated by Peters, is a story which, on 
the face of it, is utterly incredible. The same thing might as easily 
be believed of Gov. Eaton, or Mr. Davenport. But no such will was 
left; and of course it was never concealed, or found. If the holders 
of the property were ejected in 1768, the records of some court ought 
to show the fact. But no such record exists ; and the whole story, 
so circumstantially told, is a gratuitous falsehood. 

It seemed the more necessary to remark on the subject of this 
will, as in the New Haven edition of Peters's History, published in 
1829, the editor says in the preface, " It certainly contains some 
facts, such as the history of Grigson's will and some others, which 
cannot be gainsaid ; as they have happened within the recollection 
of many persons now living." Who was the author of this preface, 
I know not. That Dr. Peters himself, who was in New Haven a 
few years before it appeared, left this declaration as his last legacy 
to posterity, is one among several conjectures on this subject, which 

* 150. 
12 



90 

might be made. But the assertion, that there were many persons 
living in New Haven, in 1829, within whose recollection it hap- 
pened, — a recollection extending through one hundred and eighty five 
years, — that Thomas Gregson made a will soon after 1G44, and that 
he left it with a friend, when there is no record evidence that such a 
will was ever made or left ; that he should have been induced to make 
this will by the tyrannical conduct of the select-men of New Haven, 
when there is the best historical proof, that no such functionaries as 
select-men existed in the colony ; that this will should have been 
found in 1768, and the property resigned to the church, when there 
is no record that any such will ever was found, or that the property 
is, or ever was, held by any person or persons, under such will, is in 
admirable keeping with the history which it precedes. 

The Rev. Jonathan Arnold, of New Haven, episcopal missionary, 
brought from London a deed, dated March 20th, 1736, executed by 
William Gregson, who describes himself as great grandson of Thomas 
Gregson ; by which instrument, the said William Gregson conveyed 
all his interest in a lot of land, which belonged to his ancestor, to 
Mr. Arnold in trust, for the use, on certain conditions, of an epis- 
copal society, which should be formed in New Haven. But the land 
was never held by this deed. Though this conveyance by William 
Gregson is not alluded to by Peters, it may be proper to add, that 
the pages of the public records, where the deed may be found,* have 
[June 6th, 1838] as little the appearance, as any other part of the 
volume, of ever having had any adhesive substance applied to them. 

On examining the more prominent statements of Peters, not one 
has been found, which is not either false, or so deformed by exag- 
gerations and perversions, as to be essentially erroneous. To prove 
a truth upon the leading portions of his history, would be, it is be- 
lieved, an impossible task. 

Note H. 

Mr. Davenport's efforts in favor of education in New Haven, ap- 
pear throughout the colonial records. His design was, to have first, 
common schools, then, grammar schools, and finally a college. 
Common schools were immediately begun. By a donation of Gov. 
Hopkins, obtained chiefly through the influence of Mr. Davenport, 

* Vol. X. 520. 



91 

a grammar school was established ; and a foundation for a college 
was laid by a grant from the town of New Haven. No improvement 
has been made on this original plan by Mr. Davenport; and to this 
day, it has never, so far as it respects grammar schools, been fully 
executed. As a specimen of the early proceedings on this subject, 
an extract follows from the record of " a town meeting, held in New 
Haven, February 7th, 166?" [8]. 

" Mr. John Davenport, senior, came into the meeting, and desired 
to speak something concerning the school; and first propounded to 
the town, whether they would send their children to the school, to 
be taught for the fitting them for the service of God, in church and 
commonwealth. If they would, then, he said, that the grant of that 
part of Mr. Hopkins his estate, formerly made to this town, stands 
good; but if not, then it is void; because it attains not the end of 
the donor. Therefore, he desired they would express themselves. 
Upon which Roger Ailing declared his purpose of bringing up one 
of his sons to learning ; also Henry Glover one of Mr. William 
Russell's, John Winston, Mr. Hodshon, Thomas Trowbridge, David 
Atwater, Thomas Meeks [Mix] ; and Mr. Augur said that he in- 
tended to send for a kinsman from England. Mr. Samuel Street 
declared, that there were eight at present in Latin, and three more 
would come in summer, and two more before next winter. Upon 
which Mr. Davenport seemed to be satisfied; but yet declared, that 
he must always reserve a negative voice, that nothing be done con- 
trary to the true intent of the donor, and it [the donation] be im- 
proved only for that use, and, therefore, while it can be so improved 
here, it shall be settled here. But if New Haven will neglect their 
own good herein, he must improve it otherwhere, unto that end it 
may answer the will of the dead. His desire was, that a farm may 
be purchased, that the revenues of it may ease the town ; and there- 
fore propounded, that if any knew of any farm to be purchased, they 
would acquaint the committee with it; and then desired to know, 
whether the town would grant this to be recorded, with this condi- 
tion. The town fell into some debate about it, and so nothing was 
done further at this time." 

What was accomplished at this town meeting went beyond mere 
declarations. There was action as well as profession. James Ai- 
ling, son of Roger Ailing, was graduated at Harvard College, 1679. 
James Ailing was a congregational minister in Salisbury, Massachu- 
setts. His father, Roger Ailing, was one of the signers of the " fun- 
damental agreement." 



92 

Noadiah Russell, who was graduated at Harvard College in 1631, 
was son of William Russell, and grandson of James Russell, one of 
the first planters. Mr. Glover was named guardian of Noadiah Rus- 
sell, in the will of his father, William Russell. Noadiah Russell 
was minister of Middletown, and was a man of great respectability 
and influence. 

Nathaniel Hodson, whose name appears in the Harvard Cata- 
logue, as one of the class of 1693, was the son of John Hodson or 
Hodgson, merchant, of New Haven. The will of John Hodson is 
dated July, 1C90, and in it, provision is made for the college expenses 
of his son Nathaniel. Of the subsequent history of Nathaniel Hod- 
son, I am ignorant. 

Stephen Mix, minister of Wethersfield, Connecticut, was gradu- 
ated at Harvard College, 1690, and was son of Thomas Mix of New 
Haven. The Rev. Stephen Mix was one of the most able of the 
Congregational ministers of his time. 

The advantage to the colony from this single effort in favor of lib- 
eral education, cannot easily be estimated. The reason that so many 
belonging to New Haven, were educated at Harvard before the year 
1700, is found chiefly in the zeal and widely extended influence of 
Mr. Davenport. To make a complete catalogue of these students 
is difficult ; most of their names however are probably contained in 
the following list. Besides the four just mentioned, and Samuel Ea- 
ton referred to in Note A, who was of the class of 1649, Isaac Aller- 
ton, a graduate of 1650, was the son of Isaac Allerton of New Ha- 
ven. Isaac Allerton, senior, came to Plymouth in the May-Flower 
in 1620. He removed to New Haven soon after the planting of the 
colony, where he continued till his death, which took place early in 
the year 1659. He names his son Isaac in his will. That this Isaac 
Allerton of New Haven is the same who was at Plymouth, is evident 
from the circumstance, that in his will, he refers to his brother Brews- 
ter ; and it appears from Morton's Memorial, that Isaac Allerton 
of Plymouth married a daughter of Elder Brewster.* 

Michael Wigglesworth, of the class of 1651, and minister of Mai- 
den, Massachusetts, was son of Edward Wigglesworth, one of the 
company of Gov. Eaton and Mr. Davenport. Edward Wiggles- 
worth died in New Haven, 1654. In his will, mention is made of 
his son Michael. 

* Morton by Davis. 221. 



93 

John Glover of the class of 1651, was prohahly the son of Henry 
Glover, mentioned above, as the guardian of Noadiah Russell. 

Samuel Cheever, a graduate of the class of 1659, was son of Eze- 
kiel Cheever of New Haven. Ezekiel Cheever was one of those 
who signed the " fundamental agreement" in 1639. He was the 
New Haven school-master, till about the year 1650, when he removed 
to Massachusetts. His son, Samuel Cheever, was minister at Mar- 
blehead, where he died 1724, aged 85. s 

Compensantius [Recompense] Osborn, of the class of 1661, was 
probably the son of Thomas Osborn, one of the original New Ha- 
ven planters. The son taught a school in New Haven the year af- 
ter he graduated. Thomas Osborn and this son removed to East 
Hampton, Long Island. 

Samuel Street of the class of 1664 was son of the Rev. Nicholas 
Street, teacher of the church of New Haven. Samuel Street was 
minister at Wallingford. 

John Harriman, who was graduated 1667, was the son of John 
Harriman of New Haven. He taught for several years the Hopkins 
Grammar School in New Haven, and was the first minister of Eliz- 
abethtown, New Jersey. 

John Davenport, of the class of 1687, was a grandson of John 
Davenport of New Haven. His father's name was John, and he was 
born about the time the family removed to Boston. He taught in 
the Grammar School in New Haven several years after his gradua- 
tion, and was minister at Stamford. 

Samuel Mansfield, who was graduated at Harvard College in 1690, 
was son of Moses Mansfield of New Haven. He taught in the 
Hopkins Grammar School several years, and then went into the West 
India trade. He died in 1701. 

Joseph Moss, a graduate of Harvard, 1699, was grandson of John 
Moss, one of the first planters of New Haven. Joseph Moss was 
likewise an instructor in the Grammar School, and afterwards min- 
ister of Derby. No clergyman in his time had a higher reputation 
in Connecticut, than Mr. Moss. 

Of the graduates of Harvard College, from its foundation to the 
year 1700, as many as one in thirty, at least, were from the town of 
New Haven. When it is considered, that so late as the year 1700, 
the number of inhabitants in New Haven, could have very little, if 
at all, exceeded five hundred, this fact deserves notice. The expla- 
• nation is found in the exertions of Mr. Davenport, which continued 



94 

to produce their effect long after his death. Indeed, his influence in 
favor of liberal education has never ceased ; but commencing in the 
infancy of the colony, has with the progress of time, and tbe increase 
of population, been more and more strengthened, and more widely 
diffused. 

In confirmation of the statement on page 43, as to the extent to 
which common schoool education has been carried in Connecticut, I 
would add, that a gentleman, who for half a century, has been as ex- 
tensively conversant in the courts of tbe State, and in the business of 
public offices, as any other, lately informed me, that he had never 
met in the course of his business, with a native of Connecticut, who 
could not read ; and with but two, who could not write. The late 
Judge Reeve of Litchfield, after forty years' experience in the courts 
of Connecticut, remarked, that in his business, he had met with three 
natives of the State who could not write ; but with no one who could 
not read. 

Note I. 

As at the time of the planting of the Connecticut and New Haven 
colonies, all were in religious profession, congregationalists ; there 
was no reference in the laws for the support of ministers, to those 
who should dissent from the common faith. When the commission- 
ers of Charles II., visited Connecticut in 16G5, they say in their nar- 
rative, that the colony of Connecticut " will not hinder any from en- 
joying the sacraments and using the common prayer book, provided 
that they hinder not the maintenance of the public minister."* 
They could not mean by this, that there was any direct provision in 
the laws of Connecticut, at that time, to this effect; but the commis- 
sioners were probably assured, that, whenever any in the colony 
should desire to adopt in their worship, the ritual of the English 
church, they would not be disturbed ; and that the laws would be 
changed in conformity with such a new state of things. There was 
no Episcopal church erected in Connecticut till about the year 1723, 
in Stratford ; though divine service had been occasionally performed, 
according to the forms of the Church of England, in the same town, 
for several years before. 

In 1727 it was enacted, that " if it so happen, that there be a soci- 
ety of the church of England, where there is a person in orders ac- 



Hutch. Coll. 412. 



95 

cording to the canons of the church of England, settled and abi- 
ding among them, and performing divine service, so near to any per- 
son that hath declared himself of the church of England, that he 
can conveniently, and doth attend the public worship there," what- 
ever tax he shall pay for the support of religion shall be delivered " unto 
the minister of the church of England," etc. Those who conformed 
to the church of England were at the same time authorized to tax 
themselves for the support of their clergy, and were " excused from 
paying any taxes for building meeting houses," etc. In 1729, the Qua- 
kers, a very few of which sect lived on the borders of Rhode island, 
were exempted, on certain conditions, from paying taxes for the sup- 
port of the congregational ministers, and for building meeting hous- 
es ; and the same year, the Baptists, who had two small congrega- 
tions in the county of New London, received the same indulgence. 
At this time there were in Connecticut, but two or three congrega- 
tions of Episcopalians, and two of Baptists, all of which were small, 
and no congregation of Quakers. All the liberty was granted them, 
which, it was supposed they needed, or which was thought consistent 
with the legal support of the congregational clergy. That this relax- 
ation in the laws should have been made, so soon after their dissent 
assumed a regular form, and probably on their first application to the 
legislature for relief, has not been a very common occurrence in re- 
ligious establishments ; and is proof that there prevailed in Connecti- 
cut at the time, no disposition to persecute or oppress the new sects. 
It is true, that the Episcopal missionaries complained, that they were 
not in every case very cordially received ; and that the Congrega- 
tional ministers warned the people against attending on their minis- 
trations ; all which is without doubt true. That these ministers did not 
show on all occasions the meekness, which became them ; that they 
did not take the missionaries by the hand, and aid them in their la- 
bors ; that laymen, from over-heated zeal, were sometimes chargea- 
ble with indiscretions, especially as the missionaries themselves did 
not always use the most guarded language, can be admitted on slight 
proof. But the real sense of the community, on this subject, is not 
to be collected from the proceedings of individuals, acting under 
strong excitement, or misapprehension, but from the laws; and these 
as generally executed. 

What the Congregational ministers and churches most complained 
of, was, that New England was represented in the parent country, 
as destitute to a great extent of religious instruction ; whereas they 



96 

maintained, that no part of the empire was better supplied with com- 
petent religious teachers. They affirmed, that from the first settle- 
ment of the country, the greatest efforts had been made to secure a 
well informed clergy ; and that what the king's commissioners report- 
ed in 1665, that, in Connecticut, the people had " a scholar to their 
minister in every town or village," was, in far the greater part of 
New England, still tfue. That a clergy more devoted to their proper 
duties, was any where to be found, they were slow to admit. 

A source of ill feeling, on both sides, existed in the difficulty, 
which sometimes occurred, in collecting ecclesiastical taxes. A 
meeting house was to be built, or other unusual expense was incur- 
red by a Congregational society ; and some, who were opposed to the 
proceeding, would declare themselves Episcopalians or Baptists; 
and claim, that they ought to be exempted from paying the new tax. 
On the oilier hand, it was maintained, that these dissidents should 
pay all dues to the time of their conversion to the new faith. The 
Episcopalian would plead unwillingness, and the Baptist conscience ; 
but the money was collected according to law, and this was called 
persecution. It is from cases of this kind, which were never very 
numerous, that reports of religious oppression in Connecticut have 
arisen. The law of 1727 was modified by several successive acts of 
the legislature ; every change being intended to make a separation 
from the Congregational churches more easy to those, who wished 
to leave them. 

These dissensions, if they may be called such, affected but a 
small part of the community; and were of short continuance in 
any one place. The congregational and episcopal clergy, from the 
first, often maintained a familiar intercourse with each other, and 
showed on various occasions, a mutual respect. A large portion of 
the state knew little or nothing of any controversy of different sects. 
At the beginning of the revolution, the baptists had but few congre- 
gations, and those mostly in one county. The episcopal churches 
were chiefly in the counties of Fairfield and New Haven. All who 
had separated from the congregationalists, were, at that time, but a 
small fraction of the whole population. 

When the subject of dissent first assumed any practical import- 
ance in Connecticut, there were two opinions entertained as to the 
true course to be adopted. Some were for supporting a proper eccle- 
siastical establishment. They did not object to the establishment in 
England; and, as all there paid for the support of the national 



97 

church, hut dissenters were allowed a free toleration ; so here, they 
urged that all should be taxed for the maintenance of the congre- 
gational clergy; but that whenever any dissented from the common 
faith, they should be allowed to worship as they pleased. But the 
number of those who adopted this opinion was always small. A great 
majority held from the first, that all should be taxed for the main- 
tenance of religious worship, but that each individual should control 
the application of his own money. Whatever difficulties occurred, 
were such as arose from the execution of such a system. 

In the year 1742, at a period of great religious agitation, laws 
were enacted, which bore with severity upon a part of the congrega- 
tional clergy ; but affected not other denominations. These, laws 
continued in force, a few years only. The great body of the con- 
gregational ministers, without doubt, approved of the laws, which 
had been passed in favor of dissent ; though individuals considered 
them as unwise, and threatening the destruction of the congrega- 
tional system. The feeling of the clergy on the subject of religious 
liberty, in 1773, was fully expressed at the General Convention at 
Stamford. In a paper laid before that body, and which appears to 
have met with their approbation, it is said, " We have, indeed, a reli- 
gious establishment ; but it is of such a kind, and with such universal 
toleration, that the consciences of other sects cannot be affected or 
wounded by it, while every one is at perfect liberty to worship God, 
in such way as is most agreeable to his own mind. Whatever op- 
pressive measures have been 'heretofore adopted, we recollect with 
regret and disapprobation. We rejoice that these have ceased ; and 
that there is such freedom of religious inquiry and worship, that no 
man need be in bondage. We desire not the aid of other sects to 
maintain our churches; and while we stand fast in the constitution 
we have chosen, and think it in doctrine and discipline most agreea- 
ble to the scripture, the unerring standard of faith and worship, we 
would not oppress others, nor be oppressed ourselves, but exercise 
good will and charity, to our brethren of other denominations, with 
fervent prayers, that peace and holiness, liberty, truth and purity, 
may be established more and more among those that name the name 
of Christ, and be universally diffused among mankind." This, it 
will be observed, was three years before the declaration of indepen- 
dence. What is here called an establishment, and which was then 
one in name only, was, within a few years, abolished ; and from 
that time, all sects were nominally as well as really, on an equality 

13 



98 

as to legal privileges. Mr. Bancroft, who in his history of the Uni- 
ted States, lias arrived at more just conclusions respecting reli- 
gious liberty in Connecticut, than any one out of this state, who 
has preceded him, is full in acquitting this commonwealth of the 
charge of intolerance.* If this historian had found it consistent 
with the plan of his work, to enter more into detail on this sub- 
ject, he could have shown, that his opinions rest on indubitable 
facts. Douglass remarks in his Summary ,t " I never heard of any 
persecuting spirit in Connecticut ; in this they are egregiously as- 
persed. It is true, that a k\v years since, they made some acts 
against some frantic preachers and exhorters, called Methodists, in- 
truding, without consent, into the pulpits of the established minis- 
ters." Those, whom this writer calls Methodists, were known at 
the time, by the name of " New Lights." — Of the measures of the 
legislature referred to, though unnecessarily severe, yet as the times 
were, a too unqualified condemnation, perhaps, has sometimes been 
pronounced. Dr. Trumbull, one of the most honest of historians as 
•to facts, has shown in his narrative of the transactions of this period, 
in the opinion of some, a little of the spirit of a partizan. lie took 
a strong personal interest in some of the events which he narrates; 
and those, who had an opportunity of conversing with him in his old 
age, on the topics in question, must have noticed, that he retained 
in their entire strength, all his youthful impressions. His conjec- 
tures respecting the transactions of the Guilford Consociation in 
1741,| are not entirely correct; as appears from the minutes of the 
proceedings of that body; which Dr. Trumbull could not find, but 
which have been discovered since. 

No one, it is hoped, will suppose, that in referring to the former 
ecclesiastical affairs of Connecticut, there has been any other ob- 
ject in view, than to clear this part of our history from some misap- 
prehensions. But a much more extended view would be necessary 
to do this subject full justice. It is an obvious remark, that many of 
the relations of different sects to each other in former times, have 
ceased to exist ; and that the faults of none, originating in causes, 
wine h no longer operate, should be considered the inheritance of the 
present generation. All have now full opportunity to show the ex- 
cellencies of their respective systems, unincumbered with the past. 

Hist, of die U. States, Vol. II. 57. t Vol. I. 135. , ! Vol. II. 1GJ. 



91) 



Note K. 

At Plymouth, October Gtli, 1G57, Humphrey Norton, a quaker, 
was arraigned before the court, and "found guilty of diverse horrid 
errors, and was sentenced speedily to depart the government."* He 
was delivered over to the under-marshall, who was " required to ac- 
company him as far as Asonett, towards Rhode Island." lie soon 
after appeared on Long Island, at Southhold, and for his conduct 
there, was sent to New Haven for trial. He was brought before the 
court, March 10th, 1G58 ; and being asked, "what call he had to 
make disturbance at Southhold, going into the meeting-house on the 
Lord's day, and there speaking in public, witnessing against Mr. 
Young, the pastor of that church, etc. ; he would give no answer, 
but desired his charges might be read." — Various charges were then 
produced, respecting his deportment at Southhold, among which, 
besides uttering heretical opinions, it was alledged, that " he hath 
endeavored to vilify, or nullify, the just authority of the magistracy 
and government here settled," and that " in all these miscarriages 
he hath endeavored to disturb the peace of this jurisdiction." There 
seems to have been no difficulty in establishing the truth of the alle- 
gations. The proceedings are quite characteristic on both sides. 
When Mr. Davenport, who was summoned as a witness, appeared in 
court, "the said Humphrey was so unruly with his tongue, making 
disturbance, as it was much hindrance to Mr. Davenport in speak- 
ing; and though he was often by the court commanded silence, and 
to speak in an orderly way, yet he would not attend it, but would go 
on in a boisterous, bold, manner of speaking, uttering many words 
full of error and reproach." The spirit, however, was not uniform 
in its movements ; for afterwards " he was told he might have liberty 
to speak what he had to say, and some questions were propounded 
unto him, but he would not answer." On the second day of the trial 
the court "proceeded to sentence," and say, that "they are willing 
to go in the lowest way the case will bear, so as they may but dis- 
charge a good conscience towards God with reference to such an 
offender. But the thing being of such a nature, and carried with 
such a high hand, both before he came hither, and since also, they 
can do no less, than order and declare, that he be severely whipped ; 

* Hazard, Vol. II. 552. 



100 

and branded on the hand with the letter IT, for spreading his heret- 
ical opinions." He was excluded from the jurisdiction, and forbid- 
den to return under heavy penalties. lie was likewise fined ten 
pounds, as " the jurisdiction hath been put to much trouble and 
charge about him." The fine, one third being deducted, was paid 
in wampum, by a Dutchman from Manhadoes, of the name of Yoss. 
Norton appeared again at Plymouth, in June of the same year, and 
was again whipped there. 

A letter from " the government of Rhode Island" — " to the Gen- 
eral Court of Massachusetts," dated October, 1657, contains senti- 
ments so correct, and statements, which show so clearly the char- 
acter of the quakers, who at that time came into New England, that 
an extract is here given. They say, " Concerning these quakers, so 
called, which are now among us, we have no law among us, wltereby 
to punish any for only declaring by words, &c, their minds and un- 
derstandings concerning the things and ways of God, as to salvation 
and an eternal condition. And we, moreover, find, that in those 
places, where these people aforesaid, in this colony, are most of all 
suffered to declare themselves freely, and are only opposed by argu- 
ments in discourse, there they least of all desire to come ; and we 
are informed, that they begin to loath this place, for that they are 
not opposed by the civil authority, but with all patience and meek- 
ness are suffered to say over their pretended revelations and admo- 
nitions; nor are they like or able to gain many here to their way. 
Surely we find that they delight to be persecuted by civil powers ; 
and when they are so, they are like to gain more adherents by the 
conceit of their patient sufferings, than by consent to their pernicious 
sayings. And yet we conceive, that their doctrines tend to very ab- 
solute cutting down and overturning relations and civil government 
among men, if generally received."* 

Note L. 

There were several trials in New Haven, while a distinct colony, 
in which witchcraft was a subject of inquiry indirectly. Thus at a 
court of magistrates, August 4th, 1653, " Mrs. Elizabeth Godman 
charged Goodwife Livermore, that one time, when she saw her come 
in at Goodman Whitnel's, she said, so soon as she saw her, she 

* Hazard, Vol. II. 552.— Hutch. Vol. I. 526. 



101 

thought of a witch : Goodwife Livermore said, that at one time, she 
had spoken to that purpose, &c." and then undertook to prove, that 
there was ground for her suspicions. Much ridiculous testimony 
was introduced. The decision of the court was, that Mrs. Codman's 
" carriage doth justly render her suspicious of witchcraft, which she 
herself in so many words confesseth : therefore, the court wisheth her 
to look to her carriage hereafter ; for if further proof come, these pas- 
sages will not he forgotten, and therefore gave her charge not to go 
in an offensive way to folks' houses, in a railing manner, as it seems 
she hath done ; but that she keep her place and meddle with her 
own business." This, it is believed, is as strong a case of witchcraft 
as any which ever came before the New Haven courts. 

Dr. Trumbull, in the preface to his History, speaks of " an ob- 
scure tradition, that one or two persons were executed at Stratford" 
for witchcraft, but that he could find nothing recorded on the sub- 
ject. There is in the New Haven records, indirect evidence on 
the subject, which is thought to be decisive. Roger Ludlow, who 
had acted a distinguished part in the colony of Connecticut, and 
had resided for some time in Fairfield, which belonged to that col- 
ony, in the year 1654 removed to Virginia. At a court of magis- 
trates in New Haven, May 29th, of the same year, Thomas Sta- 
plies brought an action of defamation against Mr. Ludlow for saying, 
that his (Thomas Staplies's) wife, " had caused Knapp's wife to be 
new searched, after she was hanged, and when she saw the tcatrs, 
said, if they were the marks of a witch, then she was one, or she had 
such marks ; secondly, Mr. Ludlow said Knapp's wife told him, that 
Goodwife Staplies was a witch," etc. Mr. Davenport was an im- 
portant witness in this case, and testified, " that Mr. Ludlow sitting 
with him and his wife alone, and discoursing of the passages con- 
cerning Knapp's wife, the witch, and her execution," etc. A great 
number of witnesses imply fully in their testimony, that Knapp's wife 
was condemned and executed as a witch. It is implied also in 
testimony given at the same trial, that there had been an execution 
of a Goodwife Bassett at Stratford. " Knapp's wife," it is clear, had 
been tried by jury at Fairfield ; and it is probable, that Goodwife 
Bassett had her trial at the same place; since Stratford was in Con- 
necticut, and Fairfield was the place where courts were held. 

Mr. Ludlow is known to have carried with him to Virginia, the re- 
cords of Fairfield ; and these records were never recovered. This 
may be one reason of the uncertainty which has existed respecting 



102 

the fact of these executions. Dr. Trumbull examined the volume in 
which this trial for defamation is contained, as he has made extracts 
from other parts of it. He probably saw, that there was a record of 
a case of slander; but did not look far enough to ascertain what 
the slander was. If he had read the record, he would certainly have 
stated the facts as they there appear. How it happened, that this 
trial for defamation was in New Haven, is not explained. 

After the union of New Haven with Connecticut, there was one 
trial for witchcraft; but the case was referred to the Court of Assis- 
tants at Hartford, where the accused was acquitted. 

It may not be out of place here to add, that on reviewing the his- 
tory of witchcraft, as it existed, not in Connecticut only, where prob- 
ably but two executions occurred, but in other parts of New Eng- 
land, where the delusion respecting it was much more extensive, and 
likewise in Virginia, the ground of surprise is not, that so many, but 
that so few persons were condemned to death for this crime. On the 
continent of Europe, as well as in England, the number who suffered 
for witchcraft is vastly greater in proportion, and at a later period, 
than of those who were executed in the English colonies.* 



Note M. 

It has been said, that the declarations of the puritans in favor of 
the church of England, were insincere. But there is nothing in the 
spirit of them, to which, I suppose, the present congregational . 
churches of New England would object, or in the language, so far 
as it is applicable to present circumstances, which they would refuse 
to adopt. 

I do not recollect seeing it stated in any of our early histories, 
that the family of the Rev. Francis Higginson of Salem, removed 
to New Haven after his death. Mrs. Higginson, his widow, died here 
early in the year 1C40. Her estate was the first which came before 
the court of magistrates for settlement, after the planting of the col- 
ony. As the court was guided in their decisions in this case, solely 
by what they were accustomed to call, the " general rules of right- 
eousness," it may interest some to see a copy of the record. The 
orthography is not followed. The court was held Feb. 25, 1G40. 

* See Scott's Deinonology, and Encycl. Ainer. Article Witch. 



103 

<: Mrs. Higginson-, late planter of Quinnipiac, dying without ma- 
king her will, and leaving behind her eight children, an inventory of 
her estate being taken, the court disposed of her estate and children 
as followeth, with consent and approbation of Mr. John Higginson, 
her eldest son. 

The said John Higginson, the charges of his education consid- 
ered, is only to have his father's books, together with the value of five 
pounds in bedding for his portion. 

Francis Higginson, the second son, and Timothy, the third son, 
their education also considered, are to have each of them twenty 
pounds for their portions. 

Theophilus Higginson, though well educated, yet in regard of his 
helpfulness to his mother and her estate, is to have forty pounds for 
his portion. 

Samuel Higginson, is also to have forty pounds for his portion, and 
to be with Mr. Eaton as his servant, for the full term of two years 
from the first of March next ensuing. 

Theophilus and Samuel are to have the lot, with all the accommo- 
dations belonging thereunto, equally to be divided betwixt them, for 
fifty pounds of their portions. 

Ann Higginson, her daughter, is to have forty pounds for her por- 
tion, and her mother's old clothes, together with the remainder of the 
estate, when the debts and other portions are paid. 

Charles Higginson is to have forty pounds to his portion, and to be 
with Thomas Fugill, as his apprentice, unto the full end and term of 
nine years, from the first of March next ensuing the date hereof; 
and the said Thomas Fugill is to find him what is convenient for him 
as a servant, and to keep him at school one year, or else to advantage 
him as much in his education as a year's learning comes to ; and he 
is to have the benefit of the use of his portion till the said term be 
expired, and at the end thereof, to pay it to the said Charles Hig- 
ginson, if he live till the said nine years be expired, but if he die be- 
fore, then the said Thomas Fugill is to pay the said portion to the 
rest of his brothers, that are alive at the end of said nine years. 

Neophytus Higginson being with Mr. Hough in the Bay of Mas- 
sachusetts, is to remain with him, and to be brought up by him, till 
he attain the full age of twenty one years, and in the mean time Mr. 
Hough is to have forty pounds of the estate, which he is to pay to the 
said Neophytus, at the end of the said term, as his portion. When 
the farm at Saugus is sold, it is to be equally divided among the 
brothers." 



104 



Note N. 

Where, and how, the story of the New Haven Blue Laws, ori- 
ginated, is a matter of some curiosity. According to Dr. Peters, 
whose authority as a historian, it is not necessary again to consider, 
the epithet blue, was applied to the laws of New Haven by the neigh- 
boring colonies, because these laws were thought peculiarly san- 
guinary : and he says, that blue is here equivalent to bloody. It is a 
sufficient refutation of this account of the matter, to say, that if there 
was any distinction between the colony of New Haven, and the other 
united colonies of New England, in the severity of their punish- 
ments, New Haven was the last of the number to gain this bad pre- 
eminence. Others have said, that certain laws of New Haven, of 
a more private and domestic kind, were bound in a blue cover; and 
hence the name. This explanation has as little probability as the 
preceding, for its support. It is well known, that on the restoration 
of Charles II., the puritans became the subject of every kind of 
reproach and contumely. Not only what was deserving of censure 
in their deportment, but their morality was especially held up to 
scorn. The epithet blue was applied to any one, who looked with 
disapprobation on the licentiousness of the times. The presbyte- 
rians, under which name all dissenters were often included, as 
they still dared to be the advocates of decency, were more par- 
ticularly designated by this term ; their religion and their morality 
being marked by it as mean, and contemptible. Thus Butler, 

" For his religion, it was fit 

To match his learning and his wit; 

'Twas Presbyterian true blue." 

Hudib. Cant. I. 

That this epithet of derision should find its way to the colonies 
was a matter of course. It was here applied not only to persons, 
but to the customs, institutions, and laws of the puritans, by those 
who wished to render the prevailing system ridiculous. Hence prob- 
ably a belief with some, that a distinct system of laws, known as 
the ' blue laws,' must have had somewhere, a local habitation. It 
seems that the impression, that these laws had been embodied more 
especially in New Haven, had become quite common, as early at 
least as 1767. In the continuation of Smith's History of New York, 



105 

published in the fourth volume of the Collections of the New York 
Historical Society, the author states, that being in New Haven, ho 
examined the early records of the colony. He subjoins the follow- 
ing. " A note ought not to be suppressed respecting these records, 
to correct a voice of misplaced ridicule. Few there are, who speak 
of the blue laws, (a title, of the origin of which, the author was igno- 
rant,) who do not imagine they form a code of rules for future con- 
duct, drawn up by an enthusiastic, precise set of religionists; and if 
the inventions of wits, humorists, and buffoons were to be credited, 
they must consist of many large volumes. The author had the curi- 
osity to resort to them, when the Commissaries met at New Haven, 
for adjusting a partition line between New York and the Massachu- 
setts in 1707 ; and a parchment covered book of demi-royal paper 
was handed him for the laws asked for, as the only volume in the 
office passing under this odd title. It contains the memorials of the 
first establishment of the colony, which consisted of persons, who 
had wandered beyond the limits of the old charter of the Massachu- 
setts Bay, and who, as yet unauthorized by the crown to set up any 
civil government in due form of law, resolved to conduct themselves 
by the Bible. As a necessary consequence, the judges they chose, 
took up an authority similar to that, which every religious man exer- 
cises over his own children and domestics. Hence their attention 
to the morals of the people, in instances with which the civil magis- 
trate can never intermeddle, under a regular well-policied institution ; 
because, to preserve liberty, they are cognizable only by parental 
authority. The select-man, under the blue laws, found it his duty to 
punish every contravention to the decorum enjoined by the broad 
commandments of heaven. The good-men and good-wives of the 
new society were admonished and fined for liberties daily corrected, 
but never made criminal by the laws of large and well-poised com- 
munities ; and so far is the common idea of the blue laws being a 
collection of rules from being true, that they are only records of con- 
victions, consonant, in the judgment of the magistrates, to the word 
of God, and dictates of reason. The prophet, priest, and king of 
this infant colony, was that Davenport, who was in such consideration 
as to be sent for to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, in set- 
tling the religion of the English and Scotch nations. These remarks 
were, by the author, communicated to Mr. Hutchinson of Boston, 
then one of the Commissaries, and to other gentlemen of eminence 
in the colony and of the very town of New Haven, who heard them 

14 



106 

as novelties; nor would the former adopt them, till he had recourse, 
the ui'xt day, to the records themselves."* 

The volume, examined by Judge Smith and Gov. Hutchinson, Mas 
evidently the first volume of the colonial records. The author is 
correct in saying, that this volume contains no code of laws ; and 
there is nothing corresponding to what are called the blue laws, 
to be found in any other volume. He might have added, that the 
decisions of the magistrates to which he refers, though sometimes re- 
lating to matters of decorum, contain no references to any code of 
laws, or imply any such regulations as most of those, which Peters 
reports as the blue laws of New Haven. No proceedings before the 
magistrates, it is believed, are recorded, which imply, that the dress 
of the inhabitants was, in any degree, a matter of their cognizance; 
much less that such rules were enforced, as many of those mentioned 
by Peters. This author affirms, that among the blue laws, never suf- 
fered to be printed, were such laws as these, — "no one shall travel, 
cook victuals, make beds, sweep house, cut hair, or shave, on the sab- 
bath day." " No woman shall kiss her child on the sabbath or fasting 



* Judge Smith saw in the colony records, accounts of the efforts made by 
Mr. Davenport to establish a college in New Haven, and supposes errone- 
ously that Vale College had this early origin. This mistake is the more re- 
markable, as the author himself was educated at Yale College, where he 
received his Bachelor's degree in 174">. ' : It was from this seminary," [Yale 
College] he adds, truly. " that many of the western churches in New York and 
New Jersey, were afterwards furnished with their English clergymen. Mr. 
Smith, who was a tutor, and declined the Rector's chair of Yale College, va- 
cant l>v the removal of Dr. Cutler, was the first lay character of it belonging 
to the colonv of New York. Their numbers multiplied some years after- 
wards, and. especially, when at Ids instance, Mr. Philip Livingston, the 

sec I proprietor of the manor of that name, encouraged that academy, by 

sending several of his sons to it for their education. To the disgrace of our 
first planters, who beyond comparison surpassed their eastern neighbors in 
opulence, Mr. Delanccy, a graduate of the University of Cambridge, and 
Mr. Smith, were, for many years, the only academics in this province, ex- 
cepl -iich as were in holy orders ; and so late. as the period we are now exam- 
ining, [1746-47] the author did not recollect above thirteen more." Of these 
thirteen, whose names are given by the author, twelve were graduated at 
Vale College. The William Smith mentioned above, who was a tutor of the 
college, was graduated 1719, and was the liither of 'lie author, Chief Justice 
Smith. That Mr. Smith was offered the Rector's chair, as above stated, 
musl be received on such authority, as true; but the offer was probably 
made in an informal way, as the fact does not appear on the college records. 



107 

day." " No one shall read Common Prayer, keep Christmas, or 
Saints' days, make mince pies, dance, play cards, or play on any in- 
strument of music, except the drum, trumpet and jews-harp." ' Ev- 
ery male shall have his hair cut round according to a cap :" and 
many others like these, of which there is no trace, it is helieved, on 
the records ; unless perhaps, playing cards would have come under 
censure. 

Peters places to the account of New Haven, laws of other juris- 
dictions, but which New Haven knew nothing of. For instance, he 
says, there was a blue law, that " no priest shall abide in this domin- 
ion ; he shall be banished, and suffer death on his return." There 
was a law against priests and Jesuits in Massachusetts, and in New 
York, and they were to suffer death in certain cases ; but there was 
no such law in New Haven. He mentions also a few laws, which 
may be found substantially, in the New Haven code. Thus, he 
enumerates among the blue laws, this against lying. " Whoever 
publishes a lie to the prejudice of his neighbor, shall sit in the stocks 
or be whipped fifteen stripes." The New Haven code, as before 
stated, contained a law against lying ; but it is not here correctly rep- 
resented ; though it is a little remarkable, that the author in this in- 
stance, swerves less from the fact, than perhaps in the case of any 
other law in his whole list. He must have felt a peculiar horror of 
this ordinance ; which circumstance probably fixed the terms of it 
more exactly in his mind. Gov. Hutchinson, in his history of Ma- 
ssachusetts, and Dr. Belknap, in his history of New Hampshire, enu- 
merate laws in other colonies, which approach much nearer the 
character of the code described by Peters, than any thing, which 
ever was enjoined in the colony of New Haven. 

Hubbard says,* " they," the colonists of New Haven, " were very 
vigorous in the execution of justice, and especially the punishment 
of offenders." This account is fully confirmed by the colony records. 
Their laws were not a dead letter; and the rigid execution of them 
may have given New Haven very early, the reputation of legislating 
in minute particulars, beyond what was fact. It is a little singular, 
that this colony should have had so extensively the name of regu- 
lating the cut of the hair, and the fashion of the dress of the inhab- 
itants, when of the United Colonies, it was the only one which ab- 
stained from all laws of this description. Even the law respecting 

* 323. 



108 

tobacco in New Haven, went no farther than to forbid smoking, 
where buildings might be endangered. 

It may be important here to add, that the New Haven Colonial 
records, including the records of the General Court, the court of 
magistrates, town meetings, and the settlement of estates, are nearly 
or quite entire; and in good preservation. It is most evident, from 
a very slight inspection of these volumes, that nothing of any impor- 
tance was transacted in the colony, which was not recorded at the 
time, and with a detail of particulars, which precludes the possibility 
of there having been rules of conduct enforced by any public author- 
ity, which are not there mentioned. 

Note O. 

The evidence of the early existence of the West India trade in 
New Haven, is found in the records of the settlement of the estates of 
some of the first planters. Thus, Isaac Allerton, who had been exten- 
tensively engaged in commerce at Plymouth, continued in the same 
business at New Haven ; and it appears from the Probate Records, 
that at the time of his death in 1659, he had business connections, 
among other places, at Barbadoes. The existence at New Haven 
of the same trade, though not its amount, may be traced in the 
Probate Records, from the time of the original colonists, to the es- 
tablishment of a Custom House ; when the evidence becomes direct. 

Note P. 

According to Hubbard,* the first planters of New Haven, and of 
the other towns of the colony, were "several seasons sorely afflicted 
with diseases, especially fevers." He relates, that, some years, " an 
ague and fever hath been almost universal upon the plantations, yet 
little mortality; at other times it hath been very mortal in a planta- 
tion or two, when others, that have had as many sick, have scarcely 
made one grave." — " At one time or other every plantation, within 
less than these forty years, hath had its turn of heavy mortality, and 
some twice or thrice over." He adds, " setting aside the effects of 
this disease, those places have been generally very healthy, and, that 
notwithstanding, have been all along, and are at this day, in a very 

* 324. 



109 

increasing way ; growing numerous, over-stocked, and ready to look 
out for new plantations almost every where." 

The early physicians in New Haven seem not to have been men of 
much eminence in their profession ; at least, the people of the town, 
had not, apparently, much confidence in their ability. Several at- 
tempts were made to procure physicians of more knowledge, and of 
larger experience. " At a General Court for New Haven, the 14th 
of November, 1651, the Governor acquainted the Court, that there 
is a physician come to the town ; who, he thinks, is willing to stay 
here, if he may have encouragement. He is a Frenchman, but hath 
lived in England, and in Holland, a great while; and hath good tes- 
timonials from both places, and from the University of Franeker, 
where he hath approved himself in his disputations, able in under- 
standing in that art : and Mr. Davenport saith, he finds in discourse 
with him, that his abilities answer the testimony given. Now the 
town may consider what they will do in the case ; for it is not good 
to neglect such providences of God, when they are offered. The 
Court after consideration desired the former committee to speak with 
him, and desire his settling amongst us ; and that he may have a 
house provided ; and encouraged in provisions, and what also is ne- - 
cessary, to the value of ten pounds." On the 17th of the same 
month, the committee reported, " that they had spoke with "the 
French Doctor, and find his wants so many, that ten pounds will go 
but a little way, in providing for him." Arrangements were how- 
ever made for procuring a house for his use, and furnishing it. A 
house was obtained by the committee, and furniture was loaned by 
various individuals. Among other reasons for their efforts, this is as- 
signed, that the doctor " may be of good use, particularly in respect 
to Mrs. Davenport's case." The 9th of February following, " the 
magistrates and elders were desired to speak with the doctor, and 
see, if they cannot settle a more moderate price for his visiting of 
sick folks, than he hath yet taken." "The doctor," for he seems 
to have been always so called by way of eminence, was immovable 
on the point of compensation ; and, on his application, the town vo- 
ted, in December, 1652, that " he shall have liberty to go, as he sees 
he hath opportunity." The name of this physician was Chais. A 
history of the medical profession in New Haven, from the settle- 
ment of the town, is a desideratum. 



110 



Note Q. 

There is nothing on the colony records, which is inconsistent 
with the fact stated hy Hubbard. Gov. Leete appears on all occa- 
sions, after the arrival of the charter, to have withheld his opinion on 
the course which it was proper to pursue. At " a meeting of the 
freemen of New Haven colony at New Haven, November 4th, 1(362, " 
Governor Leete desired the assembly " to speak their minds freely, 
for he designed, that the freemen themselves would give the sub- 
stance of the answer [to Connecticut] voluntarily." "The gover- 
nor further said, that for his part, he should not be forward to lead 
them in this case, lest any should think him ambitious of the place." 
This extraordinary modesty proceeded in part, without doubt, from 
his differing in opinion on the point at issue, from the great majority 
of the meeting. His opinion was, that the two colonies ought to be 
united under the new charter; and in this he was unquestionably 
right. The worthy governor seems to have thought it expedient to 
temporize a little; but there is no evidence, that he did any thing 
in violation of truth or integrity. Governor Leete retained fully the 
confidence of the people. He was continued governor of New Ha- 
ven till the union. In 1070, he was elected Deputy Governor of 
Connecticut; and on the death of Gov. Winthrop in 1070, Gov. 
Leete was chosen to succeed him ; and was governor of Connecti- 
cut, by annual election, till his death in 1083. Mather says of him, 
" in his whole government, he gave continual demonstrations of an 
excellent spirit, especially in that part of it, when the reconciliation 
and the coalition of the spirits of the people under it was to be ac- 
complished."* Dr. Trumbull remarks of Gov. Leete, "In both col- 
onies, he presided in times of the greatest difficulty, yet always con- 
ducted himself with such integrity and wisdom, as to meet the pub- 
lic approbation. "f 

* Magnal. Book II. 30. I Hist, of Connect. Vol. I, Chap. xv. 



CELEBRATION 



SECOND CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY, 



PLANTING OF NEW HAVEN 



APRIL 25, 1838. 



Arrangements having been made by a joint committee of the 
Connecticut Academy, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council 
of the city, and the Select-men of the town of New Haven, for the cel- 
ebration of this anniversary, at about half past eight o'clock, in the 
morning, the citizens began to assemble near the southern portico of 
the State House. Scholars of both sexes, of the several schools of 
the city, under the superintendence of their respective instructors, 
were arranged on the public square, from fifteen hundred to two thou- 
sand in number. The military escort consisted of the Artillery, under 
the command of Capt. Morris Tyler, and the Greys, under the com- 
mand of Capt. Elijah Thompson. The procession was formed under 
the superintendence of Charles Robinson, Esq., Marshall of the day, 
assisted by several others. From the State House, the procession, 
comprising the various classes of citizens, and strangers, proceeded 
to Temple street, up Chapel street to College street, through Col- 
lege street to its intersection with George street ; at which place un- 
der a spreading oak, Mr. Davenport preached his first sermon just 
two hundred years before. Here the procession halted, for religious 



112 

exercises. Not only the streets were filled, but the roofs of the 
neighboring houses were partly covered, and some persons had taken 
their stations in the trees. The number here assembled was vari- 
ously estimated from four to five thousand. The exercises of this 
place were commenced by singing four stanzas of the 80th Psalm, 
in the version of Sternhold and Hopkins. Tune, St. Blartins. 

O take us Lord unto thy grace, 

convert our mindes to thee ; 
Shew forth to us thy joyfull face 

and we full safe shall be. 

From Egypt, where it grew not well, 

thou brought'st a vine full deare; 
The heathen folke thou didst expell, 

and thou didst plant it there. 

Thou didst prepare for it a place, 

and set her rootes full fast ; 
That it did grow, and spring apace, 

and fill'd the land at last. 

O Lord of Hoasts through thy good grace, 

convert us unto thee ; 
Behold us with a pleasant face, 

and then full safe are wee. 



Near the spot where the oak tree is supposed to have stood, a stage 
was erected, on which the Rev. Frederick W. Hotchkiss, of Saybrook, 
attended by the Rev. L. Bacon, offered prayer. Mr. Hotchkiss is a 
native of New Haven. His mother was a direct descendant of Gov. 
Jones, and thus connected with the family of Gov. Eaton. Mr. 
Hotchkiss was distinctly heard by the whole assembly, and the prayer 
was peculiarly appropriate, solemn and impressive. After the reli- 
gious exercises were closed, the procession was again formed, and 
moved down George street to State street, up State street to Elm 
street, up Elm street, by the place where the houses of Gov. Eaton 
and Mr. Davenport formerly stood, till it reached Temple street, and 
then down Temple street to the first Congregational Church, where 



m 



the society, whose first pastor was Mr. Davenport, worship; and near 
which spot, the first house of worship was erected. At church, the 
following exercises were performed. The music was by a full choir, 
under the direction of Mr. Ailing Brown. 



1. Hymn. By William T. Bacon, a. b. 

Lo! we are gathering here 
Now in the young green year, 

And welcoming 
Th' days which the ocean o'er 
Did, to New England's shore, 
Those noble souls of yore, 

Our fathers, bring. 

Here where now temples rise, 
Knelt they 'neath these same skies, 

The woods among ; 
And to the murmuring sea, 
And to the forest free, 
The home of liberty, 

Echo'd their song. 

Lives not then in our veins — 
Speak not our battle plains — 

A blood like theirs ? 
Aye ! and from this same sod, 
Fearing no tyrant's rod, 
To the same Father, God, 

Ascend our prayers. 

Make theirs, O Gon, our fame; 
Worthy to bear their name ; 

O may we ever be ; 
Thus, while each gladsome spring 
Comes with its blossoming, 
Loud shall our anthems ring 

For them and thee ! 
15 



114 

Theirs was the godlike part — 
Theirs were the hand and heart — 

Trust-tried, though few : 
Grant, that our souls be led, 
Thinking of our great dead, 
And by their spirit fed, 

To deeds as true. 

So doth the eaglet, nurs'd 
High where the thunders burst, 

Gaze with fix'd eye, 
Till, gain'd its parent's form, 
With the same instinct warm, 
It breasts the same loud storm, 

And cleaves the sky. 

2. Reading of Isaiah xxxv. By Rev. Lorenzo T. Bennett, 
Assistant minister of Trinity Church. 

3. Prayer. By Rev. Leonard Bacon, Pastor of the first Con- 
gregational Church. 

4. Anthem, from Isaiah xxxiv. 17, and xxxv. 1, 2. Words se- 
lected by Rev. L. Bacon. Music composed by Rev. Prof. Fitch. 

The Lord, He hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath di- 
vided it unto them by line; they shall possess it forever. From gen- 
eration unto generation they shall dwell therein. 

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them ; the 
desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. 

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and sing- 
ing. The nations they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the ex- 
cellency of our God. 

5. Historical Discourse. By Prof. Ktngsley. 

G. Prayer. By Rev. Edwin E. Griswoed, Minister of the Meth- 
odist Church. 

7. Hymn. By Rev. L. Bacon. 

The Sabbath morn was bright and calm 

Upon the hills, the woods, the sea, 
When here the prayer and choral psalm, 

First rose, our fathers' God, to thee. 






115 

Thou heard'st, well-pleased, the song, the pray'r; 

Thy blessing came ; and still its power 
Goes onward, through all time to bear 

The mem'ry of that holy hour. 

What change ! Through pathless woods, no more 
The fierce and naked savage roams; 

Sweet praise, along the cultur'd shore, 
Breaks from a thousand happy homes. 

Law, freedom, truth, and faith in God, 
Came with those exiles o'er the waves; 

And where their pilgrim feet have trod, 
The God they trusted guards their graves. 

Here peace, beneath thy wings, and truth 
And law-girt freedom still shall dwell ; 

And rev'rend age to manly youth 
His treasured stores of wisdom tell. 

And here thy name, O God of love, 

Successive thousands shall adore, 
Till these eternal hills remove, 

And spring adorns the earth no more. 

8. Benediction. By. Rev. L. T. Bennett. 



